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'Costume  of 
Colonial  Times 


BY 


I3X^ 


ALICE   MORSE   EARLE 


«JNlVERSlTr 


OF 

fFOI 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1894 


Ex. 


G-no7 


/)JLr\t 


Copyright,  1894,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


■LIUO^ 


Tnow  omccTORY 

miNTINO  AMD  BOOKKNOmr.  COMPANY 
NIW  YONK 


TO 


HENRY    EARLE 


216709 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

Foreword, ix 

History  of  Colonial  Dress,   ....      1 
Costume  of  Colonial  Times,     ...    43 


FOREWORD 

The  material  for  the  compilation  of  this 
glossary  has  been  found  in  old  letters, 
wills,  inventories  of  estates,  court  records, 
and  in  eighteenth-century  newspapers,  hun- 
dreds of  which  have  been  carefully  examined 
and  noted. 

Though  the  work  would  appear  to  have 
been  tedious,  it  has  not  so  been  found. 
The  old  letters  and  wills  have  the  charm  of 
quaint  orthography  and  diction,  and  also 
the  purely  personal  interest  arising  from 
the  sense  of  touch  with  the  writer  thereof, 
which  always  appeals  so  vividly  to  the  im- 
agination. The  inventories  and  court 
records  have  been  so  filled  with  curious 
terms  and  items  that  they  have  never 
seemed  monotonous. 


Foreword 

The  advertisements  contained  in  old 
newspapers  have  had  for  me  a  special 
charm,  the  same  indescribable  and  inex- 
plicable fascination  that  held  Hawthorne 
an  eager  reader  and  made  him  spend  hours 
poring  over  the  dusty  files.  These  adver- 
tisements afford  an  opportunity  of  insight 
into  the  manners  of  their  times  no  less  in- 
teresting than  valuable,  and  in  them  con- 
temporary social  life  is  largely  written. 
Through  the  many  glimpses  thus  given  of 
curious  old-time  customs,  and  the  full 
knowledge  obtained  of  century  -  old  fash- 
ions, the  reading  and  transcription  has 
never  proved  tiresome.  I  can  fully  echo 
Mr.  Ashton's  declaration  that  "by  taking 
the  very  words  of  people  then  living,  a 
charm  has  been  lent  to  the  task  which  fully 
compensated  for  the  labor.'' 

Though  the  compilation  of  this  glossary 
has  been  a  pleasure,  I  can  also  say,  with 
truth,  in  old  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  words, 
"  /  have  studied  not  for  my  own  sake  only. 


Foreword 

hut  for  theirs  that  study  not  for  them- 
selves.'' I  hope  and  believe  this  hook  will 
prove  of  value  and  of  use  to  artists,  to 
portrayers  of  old  colonial  days—portray- 
ers  not  only  in  colors,  hut  in  words— and 
that  it  will  help  to  prevent  in  the  future 
any  such  anachronisms  as  now  disfigure 
many  of  our  stories  and  accounts  of  the 
dress  of  early  times,  not  only  through 
incorrect  verbal  description,  but  through 
equally  imperfect  and  inaccurate  illus- 
tration. 

That  the  value  of  this  work  as  a  hook  of 
refererwe  may  he  complete,  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  give  the  price  of  materials  and 
garments  at  various  dates,  especially  in 
early  colonial  days ;  also  to  show  when 
certain  attire  came  into  fashion — when  it 
became  no  longer  the  vogue. 

When  I  have  written  of  garments  or 
stuffs  familiar  to  us  at  the  present  day, 
it  was  because  there  was  something  in  their 
old-time  form  or  use  that  varied  from  that 


Foreword 

of  our  own  day ;  or  because  some  incident 
of  interest  was  attached  to  their  assump- 
tion. Sometimes  it  was  simply  to  show 
how  ancient  in  use  they  were. 

In  the  main,  the  fashions  of  the  colonies 
were  the  fashions  of  old  England ;  when  a 
garment  or  headgear  came  to  he  the  mode 
in  London,  scarce  a  year  elapsed  ere 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  Newport  gentry 
were  also  bedecked  therewith.  Still  this 
rule  had  exceptions.  When  all  French 
and  English  dames  wore  "commodes,"  I 
do  not  doubt  that  women  of  wealth  in 
New  York  and  Virginia  thus  dressed  their 
heads,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a 
single  proof  of  the  fact,  not  even  an  in- 
stance of  the  use  of  the  word  on  this  side 
the  Atlantic. 

I  have  found,  however,  that  English  au- 
thorities on  costume  have  made  many 
errors  in  dates  ;  for,  of  course,  no  modish 
garment  would  be  advertised  in  a  New 
England  newspaper  eight  or  ten  years  be- 


Foreword 

fore  it  was  worn  in  London.  I  have 
therefore  paid  slight  heed  to  modern  Eng- 
lish and  French  writers  on  dress,  hut  have 
preferred  to  cite  my  own  examples  of  the 
use  of  words,  and  to  shape  my  own  defini- 
tions ;  I  note  and  define  over  one  hundred 
terms  not  given  by  Planche,  the  authority 
on  English  costume. 

The  references  to  New  England  sources 
of  information  may  appear  to  predominate 
herein,  but  the  records  and  accounts  of 
the  southern  colonies  have  been  searched 
with  equal  care.  Owing,  however,  to  the 
events  of  history,  especially  to  the  devas- 
tation of  two  wars,  the  documents  and 
manuscripts,  and  even  the  newspapers  of 
Virginia,  Maryland,  and  the  Carolinas 
have  not  been  preserved  to  the  same  extent 
as  have  been  those  of  the  more  northern 
colonies. 

To  the  valuable  books  of  reference  in  the 
library  of  the  Long  Island  Historical  So- 
ciety, and  to  the  priceless  files  of  newspa- 


Foreword 

pers  in  that  happy  haven  for  antiquaries — 
the  library  of  the  American  Antiquarian 
Society  at  Worcester,  Mass. — /  owe  much 
of  the  information  contained  in  these  pages. 
To  these  societies  I  give  my  sincere  thanks 
for  their  unbounded  and  cordial  generos- 
ity and  their  unvarying  courtesy. 

OBLIGE  {MORSE  EARLE. 
Brooklyn  Heights,  September y  1894. 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


HISTORY  OF  COLONIAL  DRESS 

THE  most  devoted  follower  of  fashion 
in  the  present  day  gives  no  more  heed 
to  dress  and  the  nipd«s-thaiL_did  the 
early  American  colonist.  J  This  close  atten-^ 
tion  was  paid  by  the  settler  to  his  own  attire' 
and    that   of  his    neighbors,   not   so   much 
through  his  vanity  or  love  of  fashion  and 
dress,  as  through  his  careful  regard  of  social 
distinctions  and  his  respect  for  the  propri-. 
eties  of  life.f    He  believed  that  ''dress  had! 
a  moral  effect   upon    the  conduct  of  man- J 
kind,"    and  he  studied   to  dress   ''orderly! 
and  well  according  to  the  fashion  and  thai 
time. ' '  I  Dress  was  also  to  the  colonists  an; 
important   badge   of  rank;    and   for  manyj 
years    class    distinctions    were   as   carefullyj 
guarded  and  insisted  upon  in  America   as| 
in  England.^    Attempts  were  made  through 
"sumptuary    laws    in    different    colonies    to 
definitely  fix  and  restrict  the  dress  of  what 

3 


•'Cbitiinris*  of  Colonial  Times 


\  Won*,  Idbirt/if^  "Hie '  lower  classes ;  laws  were 
passed  similar  to  those  which  had  been 
enforced  in  England  by  the  English  kings 
and  queens,  especially  the  dress-loving  Eliza- 
beth. But  these  statutes  proved  a  dire  fail- 
ure in  the  new  land,  and  universal  freedom 
and  much  diversity  of  attire  became  a  part 
of  the  universal  liberty. 

Through  the  various  records  of  colonial 
days  which  have  been  preserved  to  us,  and 
through  the  interesting,  though  ofttimes 
crude  portraits  of  our  ancestors  which  still 
exist,  it  is  possible  to  trace  with  considerable 
precision  the  variations  in  dress  in  the  differ- 
ent settlements ;  to  note  how  quickly  in 
some  localities  the  thrifty  simplicity  of  the 
attire  of  the  early  planters  was  abandoned, 
and  to  picture  the  succession  of  modes. 

The  earliest  Virginia  planters  were  many 
of  them  Cavaliers  and  had  no  Puritanical 
horror  of  fine  dress ;  hence  small  attempt  was 
made  at  restriction  of  extravagance  in  attire 
in  that  colony.  Wealth  was  great,  and  if 
the  tobacco  crop  were  large  and  factors 
prompt,  doubtless  the  gowns  and  doublets 
which  were  sent  from  England  were  corre- 
4 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


spondingly  rich.  Some  mild  sumptuary  edicts 
were  sent  forth  **to  suppress  excess  in 
cloaths,"  such  as  the  orders  to  Sir  Francis 
Wyatt  in  1621.  He  was  enjoined  ''not  to 
permit  any  but  the  council  and  the  heads 
of  hundreds  to  wear  gold  in  their  cloaths  or 
to  wear  silk  till  they  make  it  themselves. '  * 
This  order  was  probably  intended  not  so 
much  to  discourage  the  wearing  of  silk  as 
to  encourage  its  manufacture  (as  silk  culture 
v/as  for  many  years  a  bee  in  the  colonial 
bonnet),  and  the  law  must  have  been  a  dead 
letter.  John  Pory,  Secretary  of  the  Vir- 
ginia colony,  wrote  about  that  time  to  a 
friend  in  England, 

Our  cowekeeper  here  of  James  citty  on  Sundays 
goes  accoutred  all  in  ffreshe  fflaminge  silke,  and  a 
wife  of  one  that  had  in  England  professed  the  blacke 
arte  not  of  a  Scholler  but  of  a  Collier  weares  her 
rough  bever  hatt  with  a  faire  perle  hatband,  and  a 
silken  sute  there  to  correspondent  ; 

which,  I  must  say,  strikes  me  as  somewhat 
grotesque  and  even  comic,  when  I  think  of 
the  Indian-surrounded  wilderness  wherein 
the  ' '  fflaminge  silk ' '  and  fair  pearl  hatband 
were  worn. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


In  1660  the  Virginia  colonists  were  or- 
dered to  import  *'  no  si  Ike  stiiffe  in  garments 
or  in  peeces  (except  for  whoodsand  scarfes), 
nor  silver  or  gold  lace,  nor  bone  lace  of 
silke  or  threads,  nor  ribbands  wrought  with 
gold  or  silver  in  them."  I  know  of  no 
prosecutions  or  confiscations  under  this  law. 

In  M^yland,  that  state  of  freedom,  both 
reUgious  and  social,  no  attempt  was  made  to 
restrict  the  dress  of  the  settlers ;  and  there 
is  evidence  that  rich  and  varied  wardrobes 
were  brought  over  by  the  lords  of  the 
manors,  those  aristocratic  emigrants, — more 
varied  and  costly  dress  probably  than  was 
that  of  any  Puritans  or  Quakers.  I  have 
never  seen  in  the  records  of  any  other  col- 
ony proofs  of  such  multifariousness  of  head 
and  neck  gear,  such  frivolities  and  fripperies 
as  a  Maryland  gentleman  left  by  will,  with 
other  attire,  in  1642  :  "  Nine  laced  stripps, 
two  plain  stripps,  nine  quoifes,  one  call,  eight 
crosse-cloths,  a  paire  holland  sleeves,  a  paire 
womens  cuffs,  nine  plaine  neck-cloths,  five 
laced  neck-cloths,  two  plaine  gorgetts,  seven 
laced  gorgetts,  three  old  clouts,  five  plaine 
neckhandkerchiefs,  two  plain  shadowes." 
6 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

In  nearly  all  cases  in  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia, the  prices  of  garments  and  of  stuffs 
by  the  yard  or  piece  are  given  in  pounds  of 
tobacco.  Hence,  through  the  variations  in 
value  of  that  staple,  it  is  difficult  now  to 
assign  exact  values  to  articles  named.  Even 
tailors'  bills  are  made  out  with  tobacco  as 
currency.     One  of  the  year  1643  reads  : 

To  making  a  suit  with  buttons  to  it,    .     .  80  lb. 

I  ell  canvas, 30  " 

for  dimothy  linings, 30  " 

for  buttons  &  silke, 50  " 

for  points, .  50  " 

for  taffeta, • 58  " 

for  belly  pieces, 40  " 

for  hooks  &  eies, 10  " 

for  ribbonin  for  pockets, 20  " 

for  stiffinin  for  a  collar, 10  " 

Sum, 378  lb. 

As  urban  life  for  the  wealthy  did  not  pre- 
vail in  the  eighteenth  century  in  the  southern 
colonies  as  in  New  England,  New  York,  and 
Pennsylvania,  but  instead  segregation  on 
widely  separated  plantations,  there  was  not 
through  those  years  the  same  constant  and 
general  rivalry  in  dress  that  was  seen  in  the 

7 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


large  northern  towns.  There  was  excep- 
tional elegance  at  gatherings  at  races  and 
fairs  and  all  folk-mootings,  even  at  the 
courts-leet  and  courts-baron  in  Maryland. 
But  at  home  the  planters  went  in  negligee 
costumes,  banians  and  night  caps,  as  William 
Byrd  notes  the  ordinary  dress  in  1735.  -^ 
writer  in  the  London  Magazine  in  1745  also 
remarked  this  carelessness  of  dress  of  the 
Southern  planters.     He  says  : 

'Tis  an  odd  sight,  that  except  some  of  the  very 
Elevated  Sort  few  Persons  wear  Perukes,  so  that  you 
would  imagine  they  were  all  sick  or  going  to  bed  ; 
Common  People  wear  Woolen  and  Yam  Caps,  but 
the  better  ones  wear  white  Holland  or  Cotton. 
Thus  they  travel  fifty  miles  from  Home.  It  may  be 
cooler  for  ought  I  know,  but  methinks  'tis  very 
ridiculous. 

Perhaps  no  quotation  could  show  more 
thoroughly  than  the  above  the  universal 
prevalence  of  wig-wearing  at  that  date  among 
folk  of  any  pretence  toward  being  well 
dressed.  Not  only  gentlemen,  but  children, 
servants,  negro  slaves,  soldiers,  even  convicts, 
wore  false  headgear.  A  shipload  of  dis- 
reputable, indentured  servants,  who  were 
i 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


nearly  all  rogues  and  vagabonds,  were,  ere 
being  landed  in  America,  supplied  with 
second-hand  wigs,  in  order  to  cut  a  compara- 
tively respectable  figure  and  obtain  positions 
as  schoolmasters — a  calling  which  seemed  to 
gather  the  worst  dregs  of  the  southern  colo- 
nies, and  which  was  almost  always  filled  by 
redempti oners.  So  when  the  planters  could 
ride  in  their  own  hair,  and  with  any  such 
ridiculous  headgear  as  woollen  or  cotton  caps, 
they  were  indeed  hopelessly  lost  to  any  sense 
of  propriety  of  carriage  or  dignity  of  apparel. 
The  southern  newspapers  of  the  half  cen- 
tury previous  to  the  Revolution  show  few  ad*- 
vertisements  of  milliners  and  mercers ;  no  rich 
and  varied  assortment  of  dress  fabrics  such  as 
fill  the  columns  of  New  England  and  even  of 
Pennsylvania  and  New  York  papers  of  those 
dates.  I  fear  that  southern  dames  knew  few 
of  the  pleasures  of  shopping ;  they  seldom 
tip-toed  on  clogs  or  pattens  or  rode  in  sedan 
chairs  through  narrow,  crowded  streets  to 
mantua-makers'  and  haberdashers'  shops,  or 
on  board  great  foreign-laden  ships,  or  on  the 
teeming  wharfs  alongside,  and  pulled  over 
the  lading  of  India  gauzes  and  muslins  and 

9 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

V  =* 

Italian  silks  and  Dutch  linens,  as  did  favored 
northern  housewives.  They  prosaically  sent 
long  lists  to  London  merchants,  who  could  be 
paid  from  the  next  crop  of  tobacco,  and  then 
waited  patiently  for  return  ships  to  bring  to 
them  year-old  fashions.  One  London  house 
had  thirty  Virginia  planters,  to  whom  it  sent 
a  yearly  supply  of  apparel.  In  a  few  cities — 
Annapolis  and  Charleston — great  elegance  of 
attire  could  be  seen,  but  throughout  the  sur- 
rounding counties  not  nearly  as  universal 
modishness  as  obtained  in  northern  villages 
and  towns.  Even  runaway  servants  were  far 
less  showily  and  handsomely  dressed;  pos- 
sibly because  there  were  proportionately  far 
more  servants  and  slaves  to  be  dressed. 

That  many  southern  women  dressed  in  a 
graceful  and  elegant  fashion  we  learn  from 
existing  portraits.  That  of  Anne  Francis, 
who  married  James  Tilghman  and  became 
the  mother  of  the  Revolutionary  soldier 
Colonel  Tench  Tilghman,  displays  a  lovely 
countenance,  with  a  dress  of  much  beauty 
and  simplicity.  That  of  the  unhappy  Evelyn 
Byrd,  of  Westover,  Va.,  is  equally  graceful 
in  dress  and  carriage.     Willi  amine  Wemyss, 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

wife  of  William  Moore,  of  Moore  Hall,  Pa., 
is  attired  in  a  more  picturesque,  almost  in 
grotesque  fashion,  in  sacque  and  coquettish 
feathered  hat.  The  wife  of  Governor  Spots- 
wood  displays  in  her  portrait  a  rich  and 
charming  garb. 

We  know  very  well  what  a  young  Virginia 
miss  of  gentle  birth  needed  as  fashionable 
and  proper  attire  in  1737 — what  articles  were 
included  in  her  wardrobe — through  the  or- 
der given  by  Col.  John  Lewis  for  his  young 
ward.     It  reads  thus  : 

A  cap,  ruffle,  and  tucker,  the  lace  5^.  per  yard. 

1  pair  White  Stays. 

8  pair  White  kid  gloves. 

2  pair  Colour'd  kid  gloves. 

2  pair  worsted  hose. 

3  pair  .thread  hose. 

I  pair  silk  shoes  laced. 

1  pair  morocco  shoes. 

4  pair  plain  Spanish  shoes. 

2  pair  calf  shoes. 
I  Mask. 

I  Fan. 

I  Necklace. 

I  Girdle  and  Buckle. 

I  Piece  fashionable  Calico. 

4  yards  Ribbon  for  knots. 


L 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


I  Hoop  Coat 

1  Hat. 

1 1-2  Yard  of  Cambric. 

A  Mantua  and  Coat  of  Slite  Lustring. 

A  decade  later  George  Washington  ordered 
from  England  for  his  little  step -daughter — 
''Miss  Custis" — a  very  full  list  of  costly 
and  modish  garments : 

8  pairs  kid  mitts. 
4     "     gloves. 

2  "     silk  shoes. 

4     "     Calamanco  shoes. 

4     *'     leather  pumps. 

6     •'     fine  thread  stockings. 

4     "       "    worsted       " 

2  Caps. 

2  pairs  Ruffles. 

2  tuckers,  bibs,  and  aprons  if  Fashionable. 

2  Fans. 

2  Masks. 

2  bonnets. 

I  Cloth  Cloak. 

1  Stiffened  Coat  of  Fashionable  silk  made  to  pack- 

thread stays. 
6  yards  Ribbons. 

2  Necklaces. 

I  Pair  Silver  Sleeve  Buttons  with  Stones. 
6  Pocket  Handkerchiefs. 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


A  little  girl  four  years  of  age,  in  kid  mitts, 
a  mask,  a  stiffened  coat,  with  pack-thread 
stays,  a  tucker,  ruffles,  bib,  apron,  necklace, 
and  fan,was  indeed  a  typical  example  of  the 
fashionable  follies  of  the  day. 

The  step-son  —  Master  Custis  —  was  six 
years  old  and  was  fitted  out  with  equal  care: 

6  Pocket  Handkerchiefs,  small  and  fine. 

6  pairs  Gloves. 

2  Laced  Hats. 

2  Pieces  India  Nankeen. 

6  pairs  fine  Thread  Stockings. 

4     "     Coarse  "  " 

6     "     Worsted 

4     "     strong  shoes. 

4     "     Pumps. 

I  Summer  suit  of  clothes  to  be  made  of  something 

light  and  thin. 
I  piece  black  Hair  Ribbon. 
I  pair  handsome  Silver  shoe  &  knee  buckles. 
I  light  duffel  cloak  with  Silver  Frogs. 

As  a  pendant  to  this  list  of  children's  clothes 
may  be  given  the  description  of  her  own 
evening  dress,  recorded  by  a  school-girl  of 
twelve — Anna  Green  Winslow — in  her  diary 
in  1 77 1  : 

I  was  dressed  in  my  yellow  coat,  black  bib  and 
apron,  black  feathers  on  my  head,  my  paste  comb 

13 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


and  all  my  paste,  garnet,  marquasett  and  jet  pins, 
together  with  ray  silver  plume — my  locket,  rings, 
black  collar  round  my  neck,  black  mitts  and  yards 
of  blue  ribbon  (black  and  blue  is  high  taste)  striped 
tucker  &  ruffles  (not  my  best)  and  my  silk  pom- 
pedore  shoes  completed  my  dress. 

Other  school-girls  dressed  equally  well. 
The  little  daughters  of  General  Huntington, 
of  Norwich,  Conn.,  were  sent  at  that  same  date 
from  Norwich  to  Boston  to  be  "  finished ' ' 
in  Boston  schools  by  Boston  teachers.  The 
outfit  of  one  of  these  boarding-school  misses 
comprised  twelve  silk  gowns,  but  her  chaper- 
on wrote  that  the  young  lady  must  have 
another  gown  of  a  '  *  recently  imported  rich 
fabric,"  which  was  at  once  procured  in  or- 
der that  Miss  Huntington's  dress  might  cor- 
respond with  her  rank  and  station. 

It  is  easy  to  form  a  picture  of  the  dress  of 
the  first  New  England  colonists.  The  inven- 
tories of  the  apparel  furnished  in  London  to 
the  male  settlers  of  Salem,  Mass.,  and  of 
Piscataquay,  N.  H.,  are  still  in  existence  and 
show  to  us,  with  minute  exactness,  the  char- 
acter and  quantity  of  the  garments  of  these 
New  England  settlers.  The  supply  to  each 
14 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


individual  was  liberal  and  of  good  quality, 
but  the  chief  characteristic  was  durability. 
Both  the  breeches  and  long  hose  were  of 
leather  or  of  heavy  woollens  lined  with 
leather.  The  Salem  planters  stepped  on 
shore  in  1628  in  either  long  hose  or  breeches. 
By  1635  the  New  Hampshire  settlers  had 
made  a  decided  advancing  step  in  fashion 
in  this  portion  of  the  attire — the  long  hose 
were  then  quite  out  of  date.  The  doublets 
and  jerkins  of  both  companies  of  colonists 
were  of  leather,  the  cassocks  of  cloth  or 
canvas,  usually  fastened  with  hooks  and  eyes 
— buttons  were  a  vanity.  Strong  and  warm 
caps  and  hats  were  in  abundance  ;  also  heavy 
shoes  and  stockings.  The  leather  and  calf- 
skin garments  were,  of  course,  quiet  in  color, 
as  were  the  mandillions  or  cloaks,  but  the 
caps  were  of  scarlet,  and  the  waistcoats  were 
also  scarlet  or  of  green  bound  about  with 
red;  and  in  1633  we  find  that  Governor 
Winthrop  had  several  dozen  scarlet  coats 
sent  from  England  to  the  Bay.  The  con- 
signer wrote,  '*  I  could  not  find  any 
Bridgwater  cloth  but  Red ;  so  all  the  coats 
sent  are  red  lined  with  blew,  and  lace  suit- 
es 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


able  ;  which  red  is  the  choise  color  of  all." 
So  all  was  not  sad-colored  and  dun  in  the 
new  land  on  the  shores  of  the  Bay  or  the 
banks  of  the  Piscataquay. 

The  good  wives  had  correspondingly  sim- 
ple, durable,  and  plentiful  attire,  appropriate 
for  the  laborious  life  they  were  forced  to 
lead,  and  for  the  rigorous  climate  they 
encountered.  But  by  1650  the  plenteous 
crops,  growing  industries,  and  free  commer- 
cial exchange  had,  as  Johnson  noted  at  that 
date  in  his  Wonder  Working  Providence, 
brought  comfort  and  prosperity  to  Massa- 
chusetts— and  there  also  had  entered  a  de- 
sire for  finer  and  costlier  attire.  The  dura- 
ble and  appropriate  leather  doublets  and 
breeches  were  often  replaced  by  garments  of 
fine  wool,  and  even  frail  damask  and  velvet 
were  suggested.  The  good  wives'  gowns 
and  cloaks  were  also  shaped  from  far  more 
costly  and  more  beautiful  fabrics.  Alarmed 
and  indignant  at  this  veering  toward  cavalier 
ways,  the  watchful  Connecticut  and  Massa- 
chusetts magistrates  at  once  passed  sumptu- 
ary laws  to  restrain  and  to  attempt  to  pro- 
hibit this  luxury  and  extravagance  of  dress. 
16 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


An  estate  of  at  least  ;£^2oo  was  held  neces- 
sary in  order  to  allow  any  freedom  of  costly 
or  gay  attire. 

We  can  be  sure  that  the  stern  Puritan  law- 
makers did  not  base  these  prohibitory  laws 
on  single  instances  of  flaunting  finery ;  so  let 
us  see  what  excess  in  apparel  had  become 
common  enough  in  New  England  to  warrant 
an  alarmed  attempt  at  extirpation.  The 
Massachusetts  magistrates  prohibited  the 
wearing  of  gold,  silver  or  thread  lace ;  all 
cut-works,  embroideries,  or  needlework  in 
the  form  of  caps,  bands  or  rails ;  gold  and 
silver  girdles,  hat-bands,  belts,  ruffs,  or  beaver 
hats  ;  knots  of  ribbon ;  broad  shoulder-bands; 
silk  roses ;  double  ruffles  or  capes ;  gold  and 
silver  buttons  ;  silk  points ;  silk  and  tiffany 
hoods  and  scarfs.  Truly  a  fine  array  of  fol- 
lies. No  wonder  the  thrifty  souls  were 
alarmed  when  they  beheld  such  gay  and 
varied  bedizenings  and  bedeckings.  And 
the  cut  and  fashioning  of  the  settlers'  gar- 
ments became  extreme.  Women  displayed 
immoderate  great  sleeves  and  rails ;  and 
men  walked  in  immoderate  great  sleeves  and 
boots  and  breeches;  both  w^ore  slashed  ap- 
17 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


parel  and  long  wings — a.  specially  offensive 
fashion. 

Vain  offenders  against  these  sumptuary- 
laws  were  presented  by  scores,  and  were 
tried  and  fined ;  and  the  selectmen  of  vari- 
ous towns  were  arraigned  for  not  prosecut- 
ing the  culprits.  And  the  ministers  preached 
at  them,  and  had  tracts  printed  to  warn  and 
deter  them ;  but  still  the  haughty  daughter 
and  proud  sons  ' '  psisted  in  ff  lonting  ' '  until 
both  preachers  and  magistrates  gave  up  the 
unequal  struggle  in  despair,  and  yielded 
gloomily  with  dire  memories  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  and  premonitions  of  similar  and 
speedy  annihilation. 

The  rich  wardrobe  of  Colonel  Thomas 
Richbell,  who  died  in  Boston  in  1682,  must 
have  sorely  vexed  the  stern  magistrates,  and 
he  must  have  appeared  to  them  a  gay  flam- 
boyant peacock  in  sober  Boston  streets.  His 
clothing  was  inventoried  thus,  and  the  inven- 
tory is  now  in  the  Suffolk  Probate  Court. 

jC-    s.    J. 
I  Sattin  coate  w*^  Gold  Flowers  &  blew 

breeches, 4      00 

18 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


£.  s.  d. 

I  Scarlet  coate  &  breeches   w***     Silver  i 

Buttons, >-8       oo 

I  P'  w*^*  Damask  breeches,  .     .     .     .  ) 

I  Stuffe  Suite  with  Gold  Buttons,    .     .  2     lo 

I  Silk  Crape  Suite, i 

I  Stuffe  Suite  with  Silke  Buttons,    .     .  i 

I  Black  Cloth  Suite,     ......  i 

I  Stuffe  Suite  with  Lace,  . '    .     .     .     .  i 

1  haire  Chamlett  coate  w*  Froggs,      .  2 
7  p'    white  thread  hose,  20s.  7  white 

wastcoats, 3       4 

4  p'  Silke,  I  p'  Scarlet  worsted  hose,  2 

12  shirts  L8  3  p"^  Holland  drawers  12s.,  8     12 

II  handkerchers,  i8s.  3  caps,  3s.,     .     .  i       i 

7  Cravats  &  7  p'  Ruffels  &  Ribbands^  7 

3  hatts  &  bands, 2     10 

2  Rapiers  w'*^  Silver  hilts  &  a  belt,       .  12 

I  Cane  w*  Silver  Head, 10 

3  small  Periwiggs, 3 

I  Diamond  Ri«g  &  Mourning  Ring,    .  3 

I  p"^  Bootes, 2p 


But  many  simple  folk,  throughout  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  continued  to  dress  plain- 
ly, and  offered  by  their  frugality  and  absti- 
nence a  foundation  on  which  for  a  while  these 
sumptuary  statutes  could  be  based.  Leather 
breeches,  especially,  continued  to  be  worn 
by  thrifty  townsmen  and  farm-folk  as  well 

19 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


as  hunters,  as  long  as  breeches  were  worn  at 
all.  "Leather  breeches -m  akers  "  advertise 
in  American  newspapers  till  this  century.  - 

Women's  attire  when  simple  in  material 
was  often  varied  in  shape.  Jane  Humphrey 
of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  a  woman  of  no  wealth, 
died  in  1668.  She  owned  a  red  kersey,  a 
blemmish  serge,  a  red  serge,  a  black  serge, 
and  a  green  linsey  woolsey  petticoat — five 
petticoats  in  all ;  a  sad  grey  kersey,  a  white 
fustian,  a  green  serge,  a  blue,  and  a  murry 
waistcoat — five  waistcoats  to  correspond ; 
two  jumps ;  a  blue  short  coat ;  a  green 
under  coat ;  a  staning  kersey  coat ;  a  fringed 
whittle  ;  a  cloak;  black  silk,  calico  and  hol- 
land  neckcloths  ;  white,  blue,  holland,  and 
green  aprons ;  quoifes  and  queues  and  hoods 
and  muffs  ;  a  wardrobe  which  was  certainly 
sufficient  in  quantity  and  which  also  offered 
variety. 

No  better  expounder  could  be  found  of 
the  style  of  dress-  and  expense  of  dress-mak- 
ing and  tailoring  of  a  well-to-do  New  Eng- 
land family  in  those  da}'S,  than  this  tailor's 
bill  of  William  Sweatland  for  work  done  for 
Jonathan   Cor  win   of  Salem.     The    manu- 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

script   of  the  bill  is  in  the  library  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society : 

£.    s.    d. 
Sept.  29,  1679.     To  plaiting  a  gown  for 

M^s- 36 

To  makeing  a  Childs  Coat,      ....  6 
To  makeing  a  Scarlett  petticoat  with  Sil- 
ver Lace  for  M"^- 9 

For  new  makeing  a  plush  somar  for  M's-  6 

Dec.  22,  1679.   For  making  a  somar  for 

your  Maide, 10 

Mar.  10,  1679.     To  a  yard  of  Callico,  .  2 

To  I  Douzen  and  \  of  silver  buttons,    .  i       6 

To  Thread, 4 

To  makeing  a  broad  cloth  hatte,  .     .     .'  14 

To  making  a  haire  Camcottcoat,       .     .  9 

To  making   new   halfsleeves   to  a  silk 

Coascett, I 

March  25.  To  altering  and  fitting  a  paire 

of  Stays  for  M"- I 

Ap.  2,  1680,  to  makeing  aGowne  for  ye 

Maide, 10 

May  20.     For  removeing  buttons  of  y' 

coat, 6 

Juli  25,  1630.    For  makeing  two  Hatts 

and  Jacketts  for  your  two  sonnes,    .  19 

Aug.  14.     To  makeing  a  white  Scarson- 

nett  plaited  Gowne  for  M"-        .     .  8 

To  makeing  a  black  broad  cloth  Coat  for 

yourselfe, 9 

21 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 
[\0ic  £•    s.    d. 

Sep.  3,  1868.    To  making  a  Silke  Laced 

Gowne  for  M**- i       8 

Oct.  7,  1680,  to  makeing  a  Young  Childs 

Coate, 4 

To  faceing  your  Owne  Coat  Sleeves,     .  i 

To  new  plaiting  a  petty  Coat  for  M"^-    .  i       6 

Nov.   7.      To  makeing  a  black  broad 

Cloth  Gowne  for  M.^- 18 

Feb.  26,  1 680-1.     To  Searing  a  Petty 

Coat  for  M«- 6 

Sum  is,  ;^8.  4^.  lod. 

The  dress  of  the  settlers  on  the  Connecti- 
cut Valley  differed  little  from  that  of  the 
Puritans  on  the  coast.  Richard  Sawyer  died 
in  1648  in  Windsor,  Connecticut ;  his  wear- 
ing apparel  was  thus  inventoried  : 

£.    s.    d. 
I  musck  -  colour'd    cloth    doublitt   & 

breeches, i 

I  bucks  leather  doublitt, 12 

I  calves  leather  doublitt, 6 

I  liver-colour' d   doublitt    &    jacket  & 

breeches, 7 

I  haire-colour'd  doublitt  &   jackett  & 

breeches, 5 

I  paire  canvas  drawers, 16 

I  olde  coate.   i  paire  old  gray  breeches,  5 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

£.    s.    d. 

I  stuff  jackett, 26 

I  paire  greene  knit  mens  hose,  ...  2 

I  paire  old  knit  cotten  hose,       ...  i      .6 

I  old  coloured  hatt, 3 

I  new  coloured  hatt, 7 

10  Bands, 15 

3  shirts, 12 

I  paire  old  boots, 5 

I  paire  old  shoes, 2 

I  paire  cloth  buskins, 7 

Goodman  Sawyer  had  a  more  varied  ex- 
ternal covering  than  the  Salem  settlers,  but 
his  undergarments  were  not  equal  either  in 
quantity  or  quality. 

The  outfit  of  the  Maine  colonists  was  sim- 
ilar, but  contained  more  garments  for  the 
use  of  sailors  and  fishermen — haling-hands, 
trushes,  slyders,  barvells,  batts,  and  broags — 
as  became  a  fishing  community. 

At  last  there  arose  in  New  England  a 
truly  vain  people.  From  every  source  open 
to  the  antiquary  proof  can  be  obtained  that, 
with  the  early  years  of  the  new  century, 
sobriety  and  economy  of  dress  were  lost  to 
the  children  of  the  Puritans  and  Pilgrims. 
The  ''  pestilent  heretics  "  of  Rhode  Island, 
23 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


the  Quakers,  Baptists,  and  Gortonians,  were 
troubled  with  no  sumptuary  legislation,  nor 
were  they  wealthy  enough  to  be  very  extrav- 
agant; but  soon  the  opulent  Narragansett 
planters  could  boast  a  richness  of  attire  that 
rivalled  that  of  town-folk.  In  Boston  the 
influence  of  the  Royal  Governor  and  his 
staff  established  a  miniature  court  which 
closely  aped  English  dress  and  manners,  and 
rivalled  English  luxury.  An  English  trav- 
eller, Bennett,  wrote  of  Boston  in  1740, 
''Both  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  dress  and 
appear  as  gay  in  common  as  courtiers  in 
England  on  a  coronation  or  birthday." 
Whitefield  complained  bitterly  of  the  ''  fool- 
ish virgins  of  New  England  covered  all  over 
with  the  pride  of  life;"  of  the  jewels, 
patches,  and  gay  apparel  commonly  worn. 
Other  travellers  made  similar  observations 
on  the  bravery  of  the  modes ;  and  from  the 
account-books  and  letter-books  of  merchants, 
the  lists  of  the  wardrobes  of  deceased  per- 
sons, the  printed  advertisements  of  milliners 
and  mercers,  we  obtain  proof  of  great  luxury 
and  richness  of  dress,  which  lasted  through- 
out the  century.  The  attire  of  the  signers 
34 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  showed 
no  Republican  simplicity. 

With  all  this  love  of  dress  and  the  lavish 
expenditure  for  rich  attire,  there  came  no 
wastefulness.  The  papers  abound  in  adver- 
tisements of  dyers  who  will  new  calender 
and  dye  old  gowns  and  cloaks  and  ^refinish 
old  stuffs  and  silks.  We  find  even  so  fine  a 
lady  as  Peter  Faneuil's  sister,  Mary  Ann, 
sending  her  gowns  to  London  to  be  dyed 
and  returned  to  her  ;  and  her  old  gloves  and 
shoe-roses  and  shoe-strings  to  be  sold.  And 
clothing  was  carefully  bequeathed  by  will ; 
sometimes  a  garment  served  through  three 
generations. 

We  have  a  most  interesting  and  valuable 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  colonial 
dress  in  New  York,  in  the  list  of  the  ward- 
robe of  the  widow  of  Dr.  Jacob  De  Lange, 
of  New  York,  in  1682.  It  consisted  of 
twelve  costly  petticoats,  six  samares,  and 
other  articles  in  smaller  number.  It  was  far 
richer  than  any  list  I  have  ever  seen  of  the 
possessions  of  New  England  goodwives. 
The  jewels  are  exceptionally  rich ;  I  doubt 
if  any  woman  in  New  England  had  such  at 

25 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

that  time.  The  silver  girdle-chain  and  em- 
broidered purse  were  Dutch,  not  English 
fashions.     The  list  reads  thus : 

£.  s.  d. 
One  under  petticoat  with  a  body  of  red 

bay, 17 

One  under  petticoat,  scarlet, 115 

One  petticoat,  red  cloth  with  black  lace,  .     215 
One  striped    stuff    petticoat  with   black 

lace, 18 

Two  colored  drugget  petticoats  with  gray 

linings, 12 

Two  colored  dnigget  petticoats  with  white 

linings, 18 

One  colored  drugget  petticoat  with  pointed 

lace, 8 

One  black  silk  petticoat  with  ash  gray  silk 

lining, i  10 

One  potto-foo  silk  petticoat  with  black  silk 

lining, 2  15 

One  potto-foo  silk  petticoat  with   taffeta 

lining, i   13 

One  silk  potoso- i-samare  with  lace,     .     .     3 
One  tartanel  samare  with  tucker,     ...     i  10 
One  black  silk  crape  samare  with  tucker,  .     i  10 
Three  flowered  calico  samares,    .     .     .     .     2  17 
Three  calico  nightgowns,  one    flowered, 

two  red, 7 

One  silk  waistcoat,  one  calico  waistcoat,  .         14 

One  pair  of  bodice, 4 

Five  pair  white  cotton  stockings,     ...  9 

36 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

£.  s.  d. 

Three  black  love-hoods, 5 

One  white  love-hood, 26 

Two  pair  sleeves  with  gjeat  lace,     ...13' 

Four  comet  caps  with  lace, 3 

One  black  silk  rain  cloth  cap,     ....         10 

One  black  plush  mask, 16 

Four  yellow  lace  drowlas, 2 

One  embroidered  purse  with  silver  bugle 

and   chain  to  the  girdle  and    silver 

hook  and  eye, 14 

One  pair  black  pendants,  gold  nocks,  .     .         10 
One  gold  boat,  wherein  thirteen  diamonds 

&  one  white  coral  chain, 16 

One  pair  gold  stucks  or  pendants   each 

with  ten  diamonds, 25 

Two  diamond  rings, 24 

One  gold  ring  with  clasp  beck,  ....         12 
One  gold  ring  or  hoop  bound  round  with 

diamonds, 2  10 

Dr.  De  Lange's  wardrobe  was  abundant, 

but  not  so  rich  : 

£.  s.  d. 

I  Grosgfrained  cloak  lined  with  silk,     .     .  2  10 

I  Black  broadcloth  coat, i  10 

I  Black  broadcloth  suit, i  15 

1  Coat  lined  with  red  serge, i  15 

2  Old  coats, I  10 

I  Black  grosgrained  suit, i   14 

I  Coloured  cloth  waistcoat  with  silver  but- 
tons,    14 

27 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


£.  s.  d. 

1  Coloured  serge  suit  with  silver  buttons, .     5 
3  silk  drawers, 2 

2  Calico  drawers, 26 

3  White  drawers, 6 

I  pair  yellow  hand  gloves  with  black  silk 

fringe, 14 

5  pair  white  Calico  Stockings,    ....  g 

I  pair  Black  worsted  Stockings, ....  4 

I  pair  gray  worsted  Stockings,  ....  5 
I  fine  black  hat,  i  old  gray  hat,  i  black 

hat, I  10 

As  no  breeches  are  named  in  this  inventory, 
and  such  a  goodly  number  of  coats,  I  think 
the  eight  pairs  of  drawers  were  summer 
breeches. 

When  Cornelius  Stienwerck,  a  wealthy 
man.  Mayor  of. New  York,  died  at  about 
that  same  date,  he  left  in  one  room — his 
'^  great  chamber" — twelve  coats,  eight  pair 
breeches,  three  cloaks  and  two  doublets. 

The  outfit  of  the  wife  of  a  respectable  and 
well-to-do  Dutch  settler  in  New  Netherlands 
differed  somewhat  from  that  of  Madame  De 
Lange.  Vrouentje  Ides  Stoffelsen  left  be- 
hind her  in  1641  a  gold  hoop  ring,  a  silver 
medal  and  chain  and  a  silver  undergirdle  to 
28 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


hang  keys  on  ;  a  damask  furred  jacket,  two 
black  camlet  jackets,  two  doublets — one  iron 
gray,  the  other  black;  a  blue,  a  steel-gray 
lined  petticoat,  and  a  black  coarse  camlet- 
lined  petticoat ;  two  black  skirts,  a  new 
bodice,  two  white  waistcoats,  one  of  Harlem 
stuff;  a  little  black  vest  with  two  sleeves,  a 
pair  of  damask  sleeves,  a  reddish  morning 
gown,  not  lined ;  four  pair  pattens,  one  of 
Spanish  leather  ;  a  purple  apron  and  four  blue 
aprons  ;  nineteen  cambric  caps  and  four  linen 
ones  ;  a  fur  cap  trimmed  with  beaver  ;  nine 
linen  handkerchiefs  trimmed  with  lace,  two 
pair  of  old  stockings,  and  three  shifts.  One 
disposed  to  be  critical  might  note  the  some- 
what scanty  proportion  of  underclothing  in 
this  wardrobe,  and  as  Ides' s  husband  swore 
'^  by  his  manly  troth"  that  the  list  of  her 
possessions  was  a  true  and  complete  one,  we 
are  forced  to  believe  that  it  was  indeed  all 
the  underclothing  she  possessed. 

In  the  following  century,  many  New  York 
women  had  rich  jewels.  Mary  Duyckinck 
Sinclair  in  1736  bequeathed  by  will: 

One  gold  chaane  of  five  strings.  One  neclase  of 
Large  Perels.     One  Large  Diamond  ring.     One  gold 

29 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Watch.  One  Picter  set  in  gold.  One  paer  of  gold 
Ear  Rings  with  Learge  Perels  set  in  them.  One 
necklase  of  perels  of  five  strings  and  gold  Lockit. 
One  gold  ring  with  a  red  stone.  One  gold  Cross 
laaid  in  with  Pressious  stones.  One  gold  Girdel 
Buckell.     One  gold  hair  Neadell. 

By  Revolutionary  times  love  of  dress  every- 
where prevailed  throughout  the  State  of  New 
York — a  love  of  dress  which  caused  great  ex- 
travagance and  was  noted  by  all  travellers. 

The  Chevalier  de  Crevecoeur  gave  his  testi- 
mony to  the  extravagance  of  New  York  fair 
ones,  saying,  ''  If  there  is  a  town  on  the 
American  continent  where  EngHsh  luxury 
displayed  its  follies  it  is  in  New  York.  .  .  . 
In  the  dress  of  the  women  you  will  see  the 
most  brilliant  silks,  gauzes,  hats  and  borrowed 
hair. ' '  Miss  Rebecca  Franks,  a  Philadelphia 
belle,  wrote  in  1778  of  society  in  New  York : 

You  can  have  no  idea  of  the  life  of  continued 
amusement  I  live  in  ;  I  can  scarce  have  a  moment  to 
myself.  I  have  stole  this  while  everybody  is  retired 
to  dress  for  dinner.  I  am  but  just  come  from  under 
Mr.  J.  Black's  hands,  and  most  elegantly  dressed  am 
I  for  a  ball  this  evening  at  Smith's,  where  we  have 
one  every  Thursday.  I  wish  to  Heaven  you  were 
going  with  us  this  evening  to  judge  for  yourself.  .  .  . 

30 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

The  Dress  is  more  ridiculous  and  pretty  than  any- 
thing I  ever  saw — great  quantity  of  different  colored 
feathers  on  the  head  at  a  time  besides  a  thousand 
other  things.  The  Hair  dress'd  very  high,  in  the 
shape  Miss  Vining's  was  the  night  we  return'd 
from  Smith's — the  Hat  we  found  in  your  Mothers 
closet  wou'd  be  of  a  proper  size.  I  have  an  afternoon 
cap  with  one  wing,  tho*  I  assure  you  I  go  less  in 
the  fashion  than  most  of  the  Ladies — no  being  dress'd 
without  a  hoop.  .  .  .  No  loss  for  partners.  Even 
I  am  engaged  to  seven  different  gentlemen,  for  you 
must  know  'tis  a  fixed  rule  never  to  dance  but  two 
dances  at  a  time  with  the  same  person.  Oh,  how  I 
wish  Mr.  P.  wou'd  let  you  come  in  for  a  week  or  two 
— tell  him  I'll  answer  for  your  being  let  to  return.  I 
know  you  are  as  fond  of  a  gay  life  as  myself — you'd 
have  an  opportunity  of  rakeing  as  much  as  you 
choose  at  either  Plays,  Balls,  Concerts  or  Assem- 
blys. 

A  Hessian  officer  ^v^ote  mth  equal  deci- 
sion of  the  extravagance  of  fair  country 
maids,  throughout  the  State  : 

They  are  great  admirers  of  cleanliness  and  keep 
themselves  well  shod.  They  friz  their  hair  every 
day  and  gather  it  up  on  the  back  of  the  head  into  a 
chignon  at  the  same  time  puffing  it  up  in  front. 
They  generally  walk  about  with  their  heads  un- 
covered and  sometimes  but  not  often  wear  some  light 
fabric  on  their  hair.     Now  and  then  some  country 

31 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

nymph  has  her  hair  flowing  down  behind  her,  braid- 
ing it  with  a  piece  of  ribbon.  Should  they  go  out 
even  though  they  be  living  in  a  hut,  they  throw  a 
silk  wrap  about  themselves  and  put  on  gloves. 
They  also  put  on  some  well  made  and  stylish  little 
sunbonnet,  from  beneath  which  their  roguish  eyes 
have  a  most  fascinating  way  of  meeting  yours.  In 
the  English  colonies  the  beauties  have  fallen  in  love 
with  red  silk  or  woolen  wraps.  The  wives  and 
daughters  spend  more  than  their  incomes  allow. 
The  man  must  fish  up  the  last  penny  he  has  in  his 
pocket.  The  funniest  part  of  it  is  the  women  do 
not  seem  to  steal  it  from  them,  neither  do  they  ob- 
tain it  by  cajoling,  fighting,  or  falling  in  a  faint. 
How  they  obtain  it  is  a  mystery,  but  that  the  men 
are  heavily  taxed  for  their  extravagance  is  certain. 
The  daughters  keep  up  their  stylish  dressing  because 
their  mothers  desire  it.  Nearly  all  articles  neces- 
sary for  the  adornment  of  the  female  sex  are  very 
scarce  and  dear.  For  this  reason  they  are  wearing 
their  Sunday  finery.  Should  this  begin  to  show  signs 
of  wear  I  am  afraid  that  the  husbands  and  fathers 
will  be  compelled  to  make  peace  with  the  Crown  if 
they  would  keep  their  women  folk  supplied  with 
gewgaws. 

The  Quakers,  through  custom  and  de- 
nominational law,  were  pledged  to  simple, 
sober,  and  uniform  dress ;  yet  even  they  felt 
the  love  of  dress,  which  was  so  strongly 
crescent  everywhere  throughout  the  colonies 
33 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
In  1726  the  ^'  woman  ffriends  "  at  the  Yearly 
Meeting  at  Burlington,  felt  constrained  to 
send,  through  their  spokeswoman,  Hannah 
Hill,  a  formal  deprecatory  message  to  their 
fellow  women-Quakers.     It  ran  thus  : 

As  first,  that  Immodest  fashion  of  hooped  petti- 
coats or  the  imitation  either  by  something  put  into 
their  petticoats  to  make  them  set  full,  or  any  other 
imitation  whatever,  which  we  take  to  be  but  a  branch 
springing  from  the  same  corrupt  root  of  pride.  And 
also  that  none  of  our  ffriends  accustom  themselves  to 
wear  the  gowns  with  superfluous  folds  behind,  but 
plain  and  decent,  nor  go  without  aprons,  nor  to  wear 
superfluous  gathers  or  plaits  in  their  caps  or  pinners, 
nor  to  wear  their  heads  drest  high  behind  ;  neither 
to  cut  or  lay  their  hair  on  their  foreheads  or  temples. 

And  that  ffriends  be  careful  to  avoid  wearing 
striped  shoes  or  red  and  white  heeled  shoes  or  clogs 
or  shoes  trimmed  with  gaudy  colors. 

And  also  that  no  ffriends  use  that  irreverent 
practice  of  taking  snuff  or  handing  a  snuff  box  one 
to  the  other  in  meeting. 

Also  that  ffriends  avoid  the  unnecessary  use  of 
fans  in  meetings  lest  it  direct  the  mind  from  the 
more  inward  and  spiritual  exercises  which  all  ought 
to  be  concerned  in. 

And  also  that  ffriends  do  not  accustom  themselves 
to  go  with  bare  breasts  or  bare  necks. 

33 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


I  By  Benjamin  Franklin's  day  Philadel- 
phians  were  as  fond  of  dress  as  were  other 
Americans.  Even  that  rigid  and  thrifty 
economist  sent  home  from  France,  to  his 
j Deborah  and  his  daughter,  silk  negligees, 
[white  cloaks  and  plumes,  satin  cardinals, 
land  paste  shoe-buckles,  that  they  might  not 
r  dress  with  singularity."  By  Revolution- 
ary days  Philadelphia  outdid  other  towns  in 
folly,  and  surpassed  them  in  lavishness  ;  com- 
ing to  a  climax  of  astonishing  frivolity  and 
extravagance  in  that  extraordinary  and  pict- 
uresque revel,  the  Meschianza  —  a  pageant 
more  resembling  a  royal  masque  than  an 
assembly  in  a  staid  Quaker  town.  General 
Greene  declared  the  luxury  of  Boston  **an 
infant  babe ' '  to  that  of  Philadelphia.  An- 
other officer  wrote  to  General  Wayne.  ' '  The 
town  is  all  gayety,  and  every  lady  and  gentle- 
man endeavors  to  outdo  the  other  in  splendor 
and  show ;  "  and  we  read  in  Washington's 
diary,  in  Adams's,  of  the  luxury  and  display 
in  Philadelphia. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  the  succession  of 
events  in  European  and  American  history 
can  be  traced  through  the  commemorative 
34 


History  of  Colonial   Dress 

names  given  to  garments  worn  in  colonial 
da}^.  Rami  Hies  and  Campaign  wigs,  Que- 
bec cloaks,  Garrick  hats,  Brunswick  cloaks,- 
Kitty  Fisher  bonnets,  all  show  the  marks  of 
passing  events  or  historic  or  notorious  person- 
ages. At  a  later  date,  when  French  ideas  so 
largely  dominated  in  America,  French  names 
and  references  constantly  appear;  a  notable 
example  being  the  various  applications  of  the 
words  air-balloon  and  parachute  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  aeronautic  craze.  The  open- 
ing of  the  East  India  trade  brought  to 
America  many  Chinese  and  Indian  stuffs, 
the  names  of  which  are  now  nearly  all  obso- 
lete. I  have  given  in  my  book.  Customs 
and  Fashions  in  Old  New  England,  over 
one  hundred  names  of  oriental  stuffs,  whose 
exact  definition  cannot  now  be  indicated, 
and  which  were  of  silk,  cotf:on,  linen,  or 
cotton  and  silk,  and  were  usually  gauzes, 
cottons,  or  muslins  for  summer  wear,  which 
took  their  name  from  the  Indian  town  or 
community  where  they  were  manufactured. 

I  have  also  noted  in  the  same  book  the 
curious  fact  that,  from  the  letters  and  diaries 
of  early  days,  we  gain  a  notion  not  so  much 
35 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


of  the  vanity  of  our  grandmothers  as  of  our 
grandfathers.  Comparatively  few  letters 
written  by  colonial  women  have  been  pre- 
served ;  indeed,  the  women  of  those  days 
were  not  great  letter-writers,  and  their  rare 
letters  seldom  refer  to  dress.  But  the  letters 
of  their  husbands  and  brothers  speak  with 
no  uncertain  voice  of  the  pains  these  good, 
sober,  pious  gentlemen  took  with  their  gar- 
ments— their  satisfaction  in  becoming  cloth- 
ing ;  their  intense  discontent  over  ill-fitting 
or  ill-colored  attire.  They  are  as  eager  for 
*' patterns"  and  modes  as  any  country  girl 
on  her  first  visit  to  town.  Here  is  a  portion 
of  a  letter  written  to  New  London  in  June, 
1706,  by  John  Winthrop,  a  young  Boston 
spark,  to  a  fellow-dandy,  his  uncle  Fitz-John 
Winthrop,  a  sedately  foppish  old  gentleman 
of  nearly  seventy  summers  : 

Since  my  last  I  have  picked  up  at  severall  shopps 
in  towne  a  parcell  of  pattemes  which  are  inclosed. 
There  is  no  choise  of  anything.  Everything  very 
ordinary  and  extravigantly  dear.  It  was  an  acci- 
dental! thing  I  litt  upon  y'  camblett  which  was 
very  good  and  very  cheap  as  times  goe.  As  soon 
as  ever  I  see  it  at  Banisters  shopp  I  thought  it 
was    ye    genteelest    thing    I    had    seen    anywhere. 

36 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 


Yo'  Honours  Cote,  my  Cote,  Gov'  Dudleys  cote 
and  his  sonns  cote  took  up  y«  whole  piece.  There 
is  no  cloths  y*  are  fitt  for  a  jackett  and  britches 
for  yo'  Honour  &  if  there  were  they  would  be 
too  hott  for  summer ;  and  no  silks  but  a  parcell  of 
slimsey  gaudy  things  that  yo"^  Honour  would  not 
like.  It  is  a  great  fashion  here  to  wear  West  India 
linnens.  I  have  enclos'd  some  of  ye  best  patternes. 
They  make  pretty  light  cool  wastcotes  and  britches. 
Everybody  of  any  fashion  wears  them  in  summer. 

Scores  of  reference  to  dress  abound  in  the 
letters  of  Wait  Winthrop,  that  solid  man  of 
Boston,  and  of  his  brother  Fitz-John.  Very 
rarely  women's  attire  is  ordered,  and  with 
but  scant  explanation,  simply  a  gown  or  a 
petticoat ;  but  for  their  own  masculine  gar- 
ments such  sentences  as  these  were  exchanged 
by  the  brothers ; 

I  desire  you  to  bring  me  a  very  good  camlet 
cloake  lyned  with  what  you  like  except  blew.  It 
may  be  purple  or  red  or  striped  with  those  or  other 
colors  if  so  worn  suitable  and  fashionable.  ...  I 
would  make  a  hard  shift  rather  than  not  have  the 
cloak. 

I  have  sent  youre  sute  by  Major  Palmer.  The 
stufe  was  ye  most  fashionable  y*  could  be  got, 
Y*  which  is  most  in  weare  is  a  drugett  but  here 
is  iK)t  a  piece  in  town. 

37 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


I  have  endeavour'd  to  sute  you  with  what  you 
wrote  for ;  the  coate  is  of  the  best  drab  de  bury  in 
towne.     The  serge  as  fine  as  I  could  get. 

Indeed,  John  Winthrop  ordered  so  many 
suits  in  Boston  that  I  did  not  wonder  at  his 
brother-in-law's  suggestion  that  he  wear  out 
those  he  already  had  ere  he  bought  others. 
Even  petty  articles,  such  as  hats  and  shoes, 
received  from  him  vast  attention,  and  he 
condescended  much  to  buttons  and  made 
careful  drawings  and  descriptions  of  modish 
buttonholes  which  he  desired.  A  certain 
buckled  buff  belt  caused  so  much  exchange 
of  correspondence  that  it  was  truly  a  Girdle 
of  Opakka,  a  symbol  of  prudence,  thrift,  and 
decision. 

Rough  old  Governor  Belcher  was  equally 
fond  of  dress.  In  1740  he  wrote  thus  to  his 
son : 

In  this  bundle  is  a  leathern  wastcoat  &  breeches 
which  get  lac'd  with  gold  in  the  handsomest  manner; 
not  open  or  bone  lace  but  close  lace  something  open 
near  the  head  of  the  lace.  Let  it  be  substantial 
strong  lace.  The  buttons  to  be  metal  buttons  with 
eyes  of  the  same,  not  buttons  with  wooden  molds  & 
catgut  loops  which  are  good  for  nothing.     They 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

must  be  gilt  with  gold  &  wrought  in  imitations  of 
buttons  made  with  thread  or  wire.  You  must  also 
send  me  a  fine  cloth  jockey  coat  of  same  colour  with 
the  wastcoat  and  breeches,  and  lined  with  a  fine 
shalloon  of  same  colour,  &  trim'd  plain,  onely  a  but- 
ton with  same  sort  as  that  of  the  wastcoat  but  pro- 
portionably  bigger.  The  coat  may  be  made  to  fit 
me  by  the  wastcoat.  I  must  also  have  two  pair  of 
fine  worsted  hose  to  match  this  suit,  and  a  very  good 
hatt  laced  or  not  as  may  be  the  fashion,  and  a  sett  of 
silver  buckles  for  shoes  &  knees  &  another  sett  of 
pinchbeck,  ...  I  desire  to  buy  me  as  much 
three  pile  black  velvet  such  asy  is  made  for  mens  wear 
and  the  best  can  be  had  for  Anoney,  as  much  as  will 
make  me  a  compleat  suit,  the  buttons  and  holes  to  be 
of  the  same  with  the  cloaths,  and  the  lining  of  the 
best  double  shagrine  of  a  dark  gold  colour,  if  that  not 
to  be  had  some  other  good  lining  silk  of  that  colour. 
I  herewith  deliver  you  my  measure  that  the  cloaths 
may  be  made  to,  and  rather  too  big  than  too  little. 
I  desire  you  also  to  buy  me  a  nightgown  of  the  best 
Genoa  damask  that  is  made  for  mens  wear.  Let  the 
gown  be  every  way  large  enough  for  you  and  it  will 
fitt  me.  Let  the  colour  of  the  outside  and  lining  be 
a  deep  crimson.  And  I  would  have  to  spare  a  yard 
of  the  velvet  &  two  of  the  damask. 

Though  he  characterized  himself  as  '*a 
poor  Governor  living  from  hand  to  mouth," 
these  letters  of  Belcher's  indicate  no  poverty, 
and  his  portrait  displays  a  rich  embroidered 

39 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


coat  and  waistcoat  with  fine  laces  and  elab- 
orate frogs  and  buttons. 

From  the  days  of  his  early  manhood 
George  Washington  showed  a  truly  proper — 
indeed,  I  may  say  a  truly  masculine  love  of 
dress.  We  find  him  in  1747,  when  a  lad  of 
fifteen,  making  this  careful  note  for  a  tailor : 

Memorandum.  To  have  my  coat  made  by  the 
following  Directions,  to  be  made  a  Frock  with  a 
Lapel  Breast.  The  Lapel  to  contain  on  each  side 
six  Button  Holes  &  to  be  about  5  or  6  inches  wide  all 
the  way  equal,  &  to  turn  as  the  Breast  on  the  Coat 
does,  to  have  it  made  very  long  Waisted  and  in 
Length  to  come  down  to  or  below  the  bent  of  the 
knee,  the  Waist  from  the  Armpit  to  the  Fold  to  be 
exactly  as  long  or  Longer  than  from  thence  to  the 
Bottom,  not  to  have  more  than  one  fold  in  the  Skirt 
and  the  top  to  be  made  just  to  turn  in  and  three  But- 
ton Holes,  the  Lapel  at  the  top  to  turn  as  the  Cape 
of  the  Coat  and  Button  to  come  parallel  with  the  But- 
ton Holes  and  the  Last  Button  Hole  on  the  Breast 
to  be  right  opposite  the  Button  on  the  Hip. 

After  his  marriage  to  a  rich  widow,  Wash- 
ington showed  equal  interest  in  the  dress  of 
his  increased  family.  In  one  order  in  1759, 
he  sent  for  these  articles  of  wearing  apparel  for 
himself  and  his  wife ;  and  as  he  said,  **  partic- 
40 


History  of  Colonial  Dress 

ularized  the  sorts,  qualities,  and  taste,  all  to  be 
good  and  fashionable  of  their  several  kinds." 

A  Light  Summer  Suit  made  of  Duroy  by  the  measure. 
4  pieces  Best  India  Nankeen. 
2  best  plain  beaver  Hats  at  21s. 
I  piece  Black  Satin  Ribbon. 

1  Sword  belt  red  morocco  or  buff,  no  buckles  or  rings. 
A  Salmon  Coloured  Tabby  of  the  Enclosed  Pattern 

to  be  made  in  a  sack  &  coat. 
A  Cap,  Handkerchief,  Tucker,  &  Ruffles  to  be  made 
of  Brussels  Lace  or  point  proper  to  be  worn  with 
the  above  negligee,  to  cost  ;^20. 

2  Fine  Flowered  Aprons. 

I  pair  womans  white  silk  hose. 

6     "         "       fine  cotton    " 

4     "         "  "    thread    " 

I  pair  black  satin,  i  pair  white  satin  shoes  of.  small- 
est 5s. 

4     "     calamanco  shoes. 

I  Fashionable  hat  or  bonnet. 

6  pairs  Womens  best  Kid  Gloves. 

8     "  "  "      "    Mitts. 

1-2  Dozen  Knots  &  Breastknots. 

I  "      Round  Silk  Laces. 

I  Black  Mask. 

I  Dozen  most  Fashionable  Cambric  Pockethandker- 
chiefs. 

Washington  throughout  his  life  never  let 
affairs  of  state  or  war  crowd  out  his  love  of 
41 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


fitting  and  rich  attire  ;  and  in  every  order 
to  England,  the  instructions  to  secure  the 
latest  modes,  the  reigning  fashion,  were 
strenuously  dwelt  upon.  Other  Revolution- 
ary heroes  were  equally  vain,  and  vied  with 
judges,  doctors,  and  merchants,  in  rich  and 
carefully  studied  attire;  but  Washington 
was 

The  expectancy  and  rose  of  the  fair  state, 
The  glass  of  fashion,  and  the  mould  of  form, 
The  observed  of  all  observers. 


4a 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


COSTUME  OF  COLONIAL  TIMES 

Alamode.  a  plain  soft  glossy  silk  much 
like  lustring  or  our  modern  surah  silk,  but 
more  loosely  woven.  It  was  originally  made 
on  the  Continent,  and  is  said  to  have  been 
first  made  in  England  in  1693  in  the  reign 
of  William  and  Mary.  I  find  from  Judge 
Sewall's  letter-book,  published  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society,  that  he  ordered 
it,  with  other  dress  fabrics,  from  England  as 
early  as  1687.  In  1697  John  Lane,  of  Wo- 
burn,  Mass.,  left  *' 20  els  of  alamod  "  by 
will.  The  name  appears  constantly  until  after 
Revolutionary  times,  certainly  until  1785, 
in  New  England  and  Southern  newspapers, 
in  miUiners',  mercers',  and  other  shopkeep- 
ers' lists,  under  the  various  and  ingenious 
spellings  with  which  our  forbears  managed 
to  vary  their  orthography — elamond,  ali- 
mod,  olamod,  alemod,  arlimod,  allamode, 
and   ellimod — and  must   have   been  widely 

45 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


used.  In  the  Boston  News  Letter  of  Sep- 
tember 15,  1 715,  is  an  early  advertisement 
which  reads,  '*  Allamods  French  and  Eng- 
lish." I  also  find  allamode  fringes  adver- 
tised in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of  June, 
1756.  It  was  largely  employed  for  man- 
tuas  and  hoods  and  for  linings  for  rich  gar- 
ments. 

Allapine.  This  woollen  stuff,  also 
spelled  ellapine,  allpine,  alpine,  was  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  public  and  private  in- 
ventories of  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  It  must  have  been  strong  and 
good,  for  it  was  not  cheap.  It  was  ap- 
parently used  exclusively  for  men's  wear. 
Captain  William  Templer's  best  suit  of 
garments  was  a  *'  double  Allpine  coat  and 
breeches"  and  was  worth  ;^2  5.  In 
1 741  WiUiam  Bennet's  "Speckled  Jacket 
and  Breeches"  of  allapine  were  worth  ;^9, 
Allapine  was  advertised  in  the  Boston 
News  Letter  in  1739  and  1742,  but  I 
have  not  found  it  named  in  newspapers 
of  later  dates. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Apron. 

These  aprons  white  of  finest  thrid, 

So  choicely  tide,  so  dearly  bought, 
So  finely  fringed,  so  nicely  spred. 
So  quaintlie  cut,  so  richlie  wrought. 

—  Pleasant  Quippes  for  Netv-Fangled 
Upstart  Gentlewomen.     ijg6. 

I  doubt  not  many  an  apron  <:ame  over  in 
the  Mayflower.  Wood  in  his  New  Eng- 
land's Prospects,  1634,  speaks  of  ordering 
''  Green  Sayes  for  aprons."  Early  inven- 
tories of  the  effects  of  emigrant  dames  con- 
tain many  an  item  of  those  housewifely 
garments  :  Jane  Humphreys,  of  Dorchester, 
Mass.,  had  in  her  good  wardrobe,  in  1668, 
*'  2  Blew  aprons,  A  White  Holland  Apron 
with  a  Small  Lace  at  the  bottom.  A  White 
Holland  Apron  with  two  breathes  in  it. 
My  best  white  apron.  My  greene  apron." 
After  the  death  of  Madam  Usher,  who  had 
been  the  v/idow  of  President  Leonard  Hoar 
of  Harvard  College,  and  who  had  a  rich 
wardrobe,  much  of  her  clothing  was  sent  to 
her  daughter,  in  1725;  among  the  items 
enumerated  were,  ^'  9  aprons,  five  of  them 
short."  By  this  time  aprons  had  become 
an  indisputable,  almost  an  essential  part  of 
47 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


a  fine  lady's  attire.  Queen  Anne  wore 
them,  and  of  course  all  fashionable  and 
loyal  women  in  England  did  likewise  and  in 
New  England  also.  As  soon  as  advertise- 
ments of  dress  goods  and  articles  of  dress 
appeared  in  New  England  newspapers,  such 
notices  as  this  were  found — of  the  New 
England  Weekly  Journal  of  1739,  ''Beauti- 
ful Gold  and  Silver  Brocade  Aprons  ;  "  of 
1740,  *'  Short  Aprons  wrought  with  Gold," 
''Minuet  Aprons;"  or  this  of  Sally  Trip- 
pers of  Draw  Lane,  Hartford,  in  1766, 
"  Female  Aprons  for  ladies  from  eighteen  to 
fifty."  Striped  gauze  and  "  drest  picket" 
and  lawn-embroidered  aprons  appear,  show- 
ing that  they  were  purely  an  ornamental, 
not  a  useful  adjunct  to  the  toilet.  Lessons 
were  given  and  patterns  sold  for  embroid- 
ering aprons,  in  Dresden  work,  cross-stitch, 
and  darned  work.  Sample  aprons  were 
sent  from  England  and  eagerly  copied  by 
deft-fingered  New  England  dames.  Until 
well  into  this  century  aprons  were  worn 
— indeed  until  our  own  day,  when  the 
pretty  feminine  fancy  has  been  too  much 
given  over  to  servant  maids. 
48 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Arlimod.     See  Alamode. 

Armozine.  Also  Armoisine  and  Arma- 
ziNE.  A  strong  corded  silk  used  from  the 
time  of  Elizabeth  to  that  of  George  III.  In 
Hakluyf  s  Voyages  we  read  of  ''  armesine  of 
Portugall."  I  presmne  the  **  Black  Ermo- 
zeen  "  advertised  in  the  Massachusetts  Ga- 
zette of  September  26,  1771,  was  armozine. 
I  have  also  found  it  in  inventories  spelled 
armazine.  It  was  used  for  gowns  for 
women  and  waistcoats  for  men. 

Artois.  a  long  cloak  made  with  several 
capes  and  worn  by  women  about  1790.  It 
had  lapels  and  revers  like  a  box-coat. 

Baize.  This  was  quite  as  frequently  spelt 
bayes.  It  was  a  coarse  woollen  cloth  made 
at  Norwich  and  Colchester  in  the  time  of 
Elizabeth,  and  called  Colchester  baize  as 
late  certainly  as  1775,  for  in  the  Connecticut 
Courant  of  December  11  of  that  year, 
''  common  blue  and  white  Colchester  baize  " 
was  advertised  for  sale,  and  **  white  bayes" 
also.  In  Peter  Faneuil's  time — 1737 — it 
was  worth  five  shillings  a  yard.     We  often 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


find  it  composing  portions  of  the  dress  of 
runaway  servants,  especially  the  petticoats 
and  jackets  of  negro  slaves. 

Band.  A  stiff  collar  of  linen  or  cambric 
worn  by  nearly  all  Puritans.  We  read  in 
the  Character  of  a  Roundhead,  1 640  : 

What  creature's  this  with  his  short  hairs, 
His  Httle  band,  and  huge  long  ears, 
That  this  new  faith  hath  founded  ? 

Four  plain  and  three  falling  bands  were  sup- 
plied to  each  settler  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 
The  various  shapes  may  be  seen  in  the  por- 
traits of  the  times.  They  were  usually 
severely  simple — indeed,  embroidered  and 
broad  bands  were  forbidden  by  sumptuary 
laws  in  New  England.  They  were  some- 
times fastened  by  narrow  ferret  or  by  band- 
strings,  cords,  and  tassels,  as  in  the  portrait 
of  Governor  Winslow  (1645),  and  of  Gover- 
nor Endicott  (1655).  Geneva  bands  were 
worn  by  the  ministers.  Women  wore  laced 
bands.  Lawyer  Lechford  in  his  note-book 
gave  the  cost  of  eighteen  bands  as  thirty-six 
shillings,  in  1639.  The  judges  of  the  Su- 
50 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


preme  Court  wore  bands  when  on  the  bench 
till  this  century.     See  FaUing-Band. 

Bandilier.  a  case  of  wood  or  metal 
covered  with  leather  and  strung  with  cord 
on  a  belt.  The  cover  was  made  to  slip  up 
and  down  on  the  cord  that  it  might  not  be 
lost.  It  contained  charges  of  powder,  and 
thus  formed  part  of  a  soldier's  outfit.  The 
band  holding  these  bandiliers  was  frequently 
of  strong  neat's  leather,  and  was  sometimes 
worn  over  one  shoulder  and  hung  down 
under  the  opposite  arm.  In  certain  accounts 
of  the  times  the  word  bandileer  appears  to  be 
applied  collectively  to  the  band  with  its  sus- 
pended cases,  instead  of  to  the  case  alone. 

Banyan.  '^  A  morning  gown  such  as  is 
worn  by  the  Banians."  In  1735  the  New 
England  Weekly  Journal  contained  an  ad- 
vertisement of  *'Starretts  for  Gowns  and 
Banyans,"  and  in  1739  '<  Scarlet  Cloth  for 
Banyans ;  "  in  the  preceding  year  the 
Weekly  Rehearsal  had  one  of  '^Banjans 
made  of  Worsted  Damask  Brocaded  Stuffs, 
Scotch  Plods  and  Calliminco. ' '  The  Boston 
News  Letter  of  1742,  had  '*  Masqueraded 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Stuffs  suitable  for  Gown,  and  Banyans."  In 
the  Boston  Gazette  of  April  17,  1769,  we 
read  of  a  '*  Ran  away  Negro  Boy  named 
Robin  of  yellow  complexion  and  hair,  car- 
ried off  a  green  flower'd  Russell  Banyan." 
A  diary  of  the  times  speaks  in  the  year  1744 
of  an  Indian  child  ''  neatly  dressed  in  a  green 
banjan ;  "  and  the  will  of  Colonel  Robert 
Vassall  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  left  a  "  Ban- 
jan "  to  his  son.  So  it  was  evidently  a  gar- 
ment like  a  dressing-gown,  made  of  highly 
colored  or  figured  cloth  and  worn  by  old 
and  young  of  both  sexes;  perhaps  it  is  a 
banyan  that  appears  garishly  enveloping  the 
masculine  form  in  many  of  Copley's  por- 
traits—  for  instance,  the  one  of  Nicholas 
Boylston,  in  Harvard  Memorial  Hall.  In 
Virginia  these  banyans  were  much  worn,  so 
said  Wm.  Byrd,  and  were  sometimes  lined 
with  a  rich  material,  and  thus  could  be  worn 
either  side  out. 

Barlicorns.  **  Check'd  barlicorns  " 
were  advertised  among  dress  fabrics  in  the 
Boston  Gazette 'ui  1755,  and  until  Revolu- 
tionary times. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Barragons.  *'  Barragons  of  various  fig- 
ures and  colours  ' '  were  advertised  in  the  Bos- 
ton Evening  Post  in  1 7 6 1  and  in  1783.  The 
word  is  also  \vritten  barraken,  barracan,  and 
barragan.  Gilbert  White  described  it  in  his 
Selborne  as  "  a  genteel  corded  stuff  much 
in  vogue  for  summer  wear."  It  was  made 
originally  at  the  Levant,  of  camel's  hair. 

Barratine.  An  obsolete  stuff,  of  which 
even  the  description  is  wholly  lost.  In  the 
Lo7idon  Gazette  of  1689,  a  barratine  mantua 
and  petticoat  were  advertised.  In  the  will 
of  one  C.  Taylor,  of  Philadelphia,  in  1697, 
were  named  a  ''  baratine  body,  stomacher, 
petticoat  and  forehead  clothes."  I  think  it 
was  a  silk  stuff. 

Barry.  I  have  read  several  times  of 
barry-colored  gowns.  I  know  of  no  such 
color.  The  heraldic  term  barry  means 
horizontally  barred.  A  barry  gown  may  have 
been  what  we  now  term  bayadere  striped. 

Barvell.  a  coarse  leathern  apron  used 
by  workmen,  chiefly  by  fishermen.  It  is 
possibly  a  corruption  of  bann,  meaning  lap. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


and  fell,  meaning  skin.  The  name  appears 
in  inventories  of  goods  sent  by  the  English 
Company  to  America  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  especially  to  the  Maine  settlers 
who  were  with  John  Wynter  at  Richmond's 
Island,  in  the  years  from  1635  to  1640. 
These  inventories  are  published  in  the  Col- 
lections of  the  Maine  Historical  Society  for 
the  year  1884.  We  there  read  of  ''  calue 
skins  for  barvells,"  and  find  that  three  bar- 
veils  were  worth  nine  shillings.  By  a  curi- 
ous survival,  this  old  English  provincial  word 
still  may  be  heard  used  by  the  fishermen  on 
the  coast  of  Maine,  as  well  as  by  English 
sailors  and  seamen. 

Batts.  In  the  inventories  of  goods 
ordered  by  and  sent  to  John  Wynter  in  1636, 
from  the  English  Company,  appear  fre- 
quently such  items  as  "Four  Paire  Batts." 
Batts  were  heavy  low  shoes,  laced  in  front. 
The  word  is  still  used  in  Somersetshire  for 
similar  shoes. 

Bayes.     See  Baize. 

Beads.  Beads  were  a  staple  article  of 
importation  to  the  new  land  even  in  earliest 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


days,  being  of  especial  value  in  trading  with 
the  Indians,  who  coveted  them  above  every- 
thing save  strong  waters.  The  red  men 
made  beads  for  themselves  "work'd  out  of 
certain  shells  so  cunningly  that  neither  Jew 
nor  devil  could  counterfeit."  Josselyn,  in 
his  New  England^  s  Rarities,  thus  de- 
scribed the  adornments  of  the  ''tawny  las- 


They  are  girt  about  the  middle  with  a  Zone 
wrought  with  Blue  and  White  Beads  into  pretty 
Works.  Of  these  Beads  they  have  Bracelets  for  the 
Neck  and  Arms,  and  Links  to  hang  in  their  Ears, 
and  a  Fair  Table  curiously  made  up  with  Beads  like- 
wise to  wear  before  their  Breast.  Their  Hair  they 
Combe  backward  and  tye  it  up  short  with  a  Border 
about  two  Handsfull  broad,  wrought  in  works  as  the 
other  with  their  Beads. 

By  newspaper  times  we  read  of  beads 
which  were  intended  for  the  wear  of  Cau- 
casian dames  and  maids. 

'*  SolUtaire  &  Common  Black  &  White 
Beeds  "  were  offered  for  sale  in  the  Boston 
Gazette  in  1749.  Gold,  silver,  jet,  pearl 
and  marquasite  beads  also  were  sold.  See 
Bugle. 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Bearer.  A  roll  or  padding  placed  like 
a  bustle  at  either  hip  to  raise  the  skirt. 
Swift  speaks  of  the  "  bolsters  that  supply  her 
hips."  We  read  of  a  colonial  dame  ''  with  a 
coat  raised  by  great  bearers." 

Beaver.     See  Hat. 

Bedcoat.     See  Rail. 

Beryllian.  In  the  Pemisylvania  Ga- 
zette of  1729,  and  in  the  Charleston  Ga- 
zette oi  i^^^,  appears  frequently  this  v.ord, 
in  such  advertisements  as  this  ''Beryllian 
and  other  Eastern  India  Goods  for  Women's 
apparell. "  I  do  not  find  the  word  in  any 
dictionary. 

Biggin.  A  coif  worn  formerly  by  men  ; 
it  came  quickly  to  mean  exclusively  a  child's 
close  cap  or  hood.  Shakespeare  speaks  of 
''homely  biggins,"  and  they  were  evidently 
a  cap  for  everyday  wear.  The  word  is  prob- 
ably derived  from  beguine,  a  nun.  The 
word  biggonet  was  a  later  derivative  and  was 
applied  to  a  woman's  cap.  We  find  in  the 
Winthrop  Papers  Mistress  Mary  Dudley  writ- 
56 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


ing  in  1636  to  Madame  Winthrop  for  '*  fine 
Holland  for  bigins  ' '  for  her  new-born  baby. 
In  a  masque  given  at  Whitehall  in  1639,  a 
chorus  of  children  wore  as  stage  dress  ' '  bibs, 
biggins  and  muckinders. ' ' 

BiRDET.  '' Stript  &  plain  Birdet"  were 
named  in  the  JVc7e/  Englafid  Weekly  Journal 
in  1737,  and  ''Very  nice  stript  Damsacus 
and  Chinese  Burdet  for  Waistcoats  "  in  1767. 
It  was  apparently  an  India  silk  stuff. 

,r  Bodice.  This  article  of  wear,  usually 
spelt  boddice,  occasionally  appears.  More 
frequently  in  seventeenth  century  invento- 
ries is  seen  this  form — "  a  pair  of  bodyes." 
These  ' '  bodyes ' '  were  a  bodice  in  two 
pieces  for  outside  wear,  laced  front  and  back 
and  thus  were  literally  a  pair.  I  think  the 
term  was  also  used  for  stays. 

Bodkin.  Originally  a  dagger,  then  a 
"hair-peg"  or  hair-pin.  In  the  Triumph' 
ant  Widow i  1677,  we  read  : 

Silver  bodkins  for  your  hair, 
Bobs  which  maidens  love  to  wear. 

57 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Martha  Emmons,  of  Boston,  left  in  1666 
a  **  Silver  Bodkine,"  while  Widow  Susan- 
nah Oxenbridge  of  the  same  town  had,  in 
1695,  a  gold  bodkin.  A  silver  hair-peg 
named  in  1 748  was  a  hair  bodkin.  A  ' '  hair 
neadell ' '  was  also  an  ornamental  hair-pin — 
the  good  old  Saxon  word  haernaedl.  See 
Hairpin. 

BoMBAZiN.  A  mixture  of  silk  and  cotton 
introduced  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
In  1675  "  the  Dutch  elders  presented  at 
court  (at  Norwich)  a  specimen  of  a  novel 
work  called  bombazines  for  the  manufactur- 
ing of  which  elegant  stuff  this  city  has  ever 
since  been  famed."  The  name  frequently 
appears  in  early  colonial  inventories  ;  ''  bom- 
ber-zeen  "  was  advertised  in  the  New  Eng- 
land Weekly  Journal  in  1741,  and  the  stuff 
has  been  in  wear  till  our  own  day. 

Bone-Lace.     See  Lace. 

Bonnet.  The  first  use  that  I  have  chanced 

to  see  in  New  England  records  of  the  word 

bonnet  for   women's   headgear,   was  in  the 

year  1725,  when  Madam  Usher's  wardrobe 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


was  sent  to  England.  **  Two  silk  bonnets  " 
were  on  the  list.  In  the  Boston  News  Letter 
in  1743  it  was  stated  where  ladies  might 
have  bonnets  made,  so  they  must  then  have 
become  widely  worn.  In  1 760  in  the  Boston 
Evening  Post  ' '  Sattin  Bonnets  ' '  were  ad- 
vertised, and  **  Quilted  Bonnets  and  Kitty 
Fisher  Bonnets ; ' '  and  Anna  Adams,  a  Bos- 
ton milHner,  had  ^'Quebeck  and  Garrick 
Bonnets. ' '  The  following  year  came  *  *  Prus- 
sian and  Ranelagh  Bonnets. ' '  In  July,  1 764, 
came  seasonable  Leghorn  and  Queens  Bon- 
nets, and  then  *'  drawn  lace  and  rich  lac'd 
bonnets,"  and  '' women's  neat -made  mourn- 
ing bonnets."  In  Hartford  in  1775,  Mary 
Gabiel,  "MilHner  from  France,"  charged 
two  shillings  and  six-pence  for  making  new- 
est-fashioned bonnets  in  the  neatest  manner, 
and  but  a  shilling  for  making  a  plain  bon- 
net. We  gain  some  notion  of  the  colors 
fashionably  worn,  and  sold  opposite  the 
Liberty  Tree.  '  *  Plain  and  Masqueraded 
newest  fashion  crimson,  blue,  pink,  white 
and  black  bonnets."  There  is  no  hint  of 
the  shapes  of  these  early  bonnets,  whether 
poke  or  cottage,  tunnel  or  saucer  -  shaped. 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


From  the  portraits  of  the  times  I  judge  the 
modish  head  covering  for  many  years  to  be 
hats  and  hoods. 

Boots.  By  the  provincial  government 
of  Massachusetts  it  was  ordered,  in  1651, 
that  no  man  worth  under  J[^2oo  should  be 
aJlowed  to  * '  walk  in  great  boots. ' '  Jonas 
Fairbanks  and  Robert  Edwards  were  tried 
in  the  Bay  Colony  for  this  offence  against 
the  commonwealth.  As  the  boots  of  that 
day  were  frequently  made  cavalier-fashion, 
with  broad,  flaring  tops,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  this  law  was  a  frugal  measure  to  dis- 
countenance the  waste  of  leather. 

In  1 64 1  in  the  inventory  of  Edward  Skin- 
ner, a  leather  worker,  appeared  **  White 
Russett  Boots ;"  he  also  had  *'  5  payr  Boots  " 
— made  doubtless  for  wealthy  colonists. 
Advertisements  of  boots  are  not  plentiful  in 
the  early  newspapers,  though  the  law  about 
boot-wearing  had  long  ere  their  day  become 
a  dead  letter.  In  17 15,  in  the  Boston  News 
Letter  appear  notices  of  ''English  boots, 
half-jack  and  small,  tops  &  spurs,"  and  a 
**  fresh  hogshead  of  Half  Jack  English 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Jockey  Boots."  And  at  rare  intervals  jack- 
boots are  advertised  until  Revolutionary 
times,  but  apparently  were  only  for  wear  on 
horseback.  Top-boots,  the  delight  of  bucks 
and  bloods,  appeared  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
century ;  and  with  the  snowy  tops  and  pol- 
ished legs  formed  an  elegant  foot-gear  that 
deserved  its  popularity. 

Boot-Breeches.     See  Breeches. 

Boot-Hose.  These  were  the  same  as  spat- 
terdashes, q.  V.  The  name  and  article  were 
in  constant  use  in  the  Southern  colonies. 
The  earliest  record  is  in  the  will  of  Zachary 
Molleshead,  of  St.  Marys,  Maryland,  in 
1638.      '*  Boot-hose  tops"  also  are  named. 

Bosom  Bottle.  I  was  much  puzzled  by 
the  advertisement  in  the  Boston  Evening 
Post  of  July  26,  1756,  and  in  subsequent 
newspapers,  of  * '  Bosom  Bottles. ' '  I  now 
believe  them  to  be  the  small,  flat  glasses, 
which,  filled  with  water,  were  worn  in  the 
stomacher  of  the  dress,  and  in  ^vhich  the 
stems  of  ''bosom  flowers"  were  placed. 
No  lady  at  that  time  was  considered  to  be 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


in  full  dress  unless  she  wore  a  bunch  of 
natural  flowers  in  her  dress.  A  bosom  bot- 
tle, four  inches  in  height,  used  in  the  year 
1770,  was  pear-shaped,  of  heavy  ribbed 
glass.  They  were  sometimes  covered  with 
silk  the  color  of  the  gown,  for  the  purpose 
of  more  effectual  concealment. 

Bracelet.  I  fancy  these  pieces  of  jew- 
elry were  rare  in  America  in  early  days. 
Ann  Clark  had  a  *'braselett"  in  Boston, 
in  1666,  and  wealthy  Jane  Oxen  bridge  had 
a  carneUan  bracelet  in  1673;  but  I  do  not 
find  any  advertisements  of  them  in  eighteenth 
century  newspapers,  nor  do  I  recall  many 
portraits  of  that  date  in  which  the  fair  sitters 
displayed  bracelets. 

Brasselets.  "  Figur'd  &  Spangl'd 
Brasselets  ' '  were  named  among  dress-fabrics 
in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  in  November, 
1767,  and  for  a  decade  of  years  later. 

Brawls.     A  blue  and  white  striped  cot- 
ton cloth  made  in  India.     I  find  it  adver- 
tised from  1785  to  1795  among  other  Indian 
stuffs.     It  was  also  spelt  brauls. 
6a 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Breast  Knots.  We  read  in  the  Weekly 
Rehearsal  oi  ]2inn3.ry  lo,  1732,  that  *'in 
breast  knots  may  be  shown  a  good  deal  of 
ingenuity  in  delicate  Choice  of  Colours  & 
Dispositions  ;  a  beautiful  Purple  is  the  gen- 
eral Mode."  In  1798,  in  the  Fanners^ 
Weekly,  ''  the  brick  dust  hue  of  coquelicot 
ribands  "  was  said  to  be  the  prevailing  color 
in  knots.  The  Federal  breast-knot,  or  rose, 
was  made  of  black  ribbon  with  a  white  but- 
ton or  fastening.  Bosom-knots  were  breast- 
knots. 

Breeches.  This  word  was  in  use  as  ear- 
ly as  the  year  1382  when  Wiclif  wrote  of 
Adam  and  Eve  that  they  made  *^  briches  " 
of  fig-leaves.  In  still  earlier  days  the  Saxons 
and  other  breeched  barbarians  wore  the  gar- 
ment. 

Though  the  Bay  colonists  had  '*  doublet 
and  hose,"  they  also  had  coats  and  bryks, 
or  breeches  ;  and  they  quickly  taught  the 
Indians  to  wear  the  latter  also.  This  don- 
ning of  small  clothes  by  the  savages  was  not 
wholly  approved  by  the  colonists,  though  it 
is  difficult  to  conjecture  the  ground  of  ob- 

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jection.  Roger  Williams  wrote,  '*I  have 
long  had  scruples  of  selling  the  natives  aught 
but  what  may  tend  to  bring  to  civilizing. 
I  therefore  neither  bought  nor  shall  sell  them 
loose  coats  nor  breeches."  King  Phihp 
wrote  from  Mount  Hope  in  1672,  to  Colonel 
Hopestill  Foster,  of  Dorchester,  asking  for 
**A  prof  good  Indian  briches  and  silke  & 
Buttons  &  7  yards  Gallownes  for  trimming. " 
We  hear  of  another  pair  of  Indian  breeches 
at  Warwick,  R.  I.,  in  1656,  worth  'js.  6d. 
And,  indeed,  by  1746  so  prevalent  had 
English  fashions  become  among  American 
savages  tliat  a  runaway  Indian  maidservant 
was  advertised  as  wearing  off  '*  smoked 
leather  breaches. ' ' 

Breeches-making  became  a  trade  in  itself, 
aside  from  tailoring,  because  the  breeches 
were  commonly  made  of  leather,  deer-skin 
or  sheep-skin,  and  required  different  work- 
men. ''Philadelphia  breeches"  of  deer- 
skin cost  but  $4  a  pair.  In  1740  we 
read  of  '*  breeches  with  neither  strings 
nor  knee-straps,"  and  again  of  a  runaway 
''with  white  knee-strings,"  and  another 
with  "silk  knee-straps."  Knit  breeches 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


came  in  in  1768  "as  low  as  four  pistareens 
a  pair,"  and  "  breeches  pieces  "  or  "  breech- 
es patterns  ' '  of  velvet,  plush,  silk,  brocade, 
and  other  stuffs  were  sold.  The  breeches 
worn  by  the  early  planters  were  fulled  at  the 
waist  and  knee,  after  the  Dutch  fashion, 
somewhat  like  our  modern  knickerbockers, 
or  the  English  bag-breeches.  By  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  they  were 
worn  skin-tight.  A  gentleman  when  order- 
ing a  pair  is  said  to  have  told  his  tailor,  "  If 
I  can  get  into  'em,  I  won't  pay  for  'em." 
A  curious  item  on  many  inventories  of  goods 
sent  to  John  Wynter  in  Maine,  about  the 
year  1640  is  "  boot-breeches,"  and  we  read 
often  of  his  seUing  ''  2  yards  Cape  Cloth  to 
make  a  paire  boote-breeches. ' '  These  were 
gathered  full  below  the  knee  with  a  strap. 

Brocade.  In  the  New  England  Weekly 
JotLvnal  oi  September  29,  1737,  we  read  of 
a  "New  parcel  fine  Brocaded  Silks  with 
White  Grounds,  beautifully  Flower' d  with 
Lively  Colours."  At  other  dates  appear 
'■ '  rich  Armozed  Ground  Brocades, "  "  Flow- 
er'd  Brocade  of  Blue  Ground  "  and  "  Pinck 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


colour  Brocade. ' '  Tbe  brocades  of  colonial 
days  were  exceedingly  rich  in  texture  and 
color ;  and  examples  preserved  to  our  own 
day  prove  them  unrivaled  by  the  products 
of  our  modern  looms. 

Brogue.  A  heavy  coarse  shoe  made  of 
rawhide,  and  originally  of  a  single  upper 
piece  of  untanned  leather  sewed  on  a  heavy 
sole,  and  with  a  single  tie  lace.  In  the  in- 
ventories of  goods  consigned  to  John  Wyn- 
ter  in  Maine,  in  1640,  appear  ''46  paire 
Brogues,"  and  again  ''  2  paire  broags,"  and 
**  3  paire  Irish  broags."  Nineteen  pair  of 
** broags"  were  worth  ;£i.  8s.  lod.  These 
were  the  **  clouted  brogues"  of  Shake- 
speare's day.  The  Irish  word  brogan  has 
much  the  same  meaning.  In  the  plural 
brogues  sometimes  meant  trousers.  Wash- 
ington Irving  used  the  word  in  that  sense. 

Brooch.  Though  doubtless  brooches  were 
worn  in  America  in  early  days,  I  have  not 
chanced  to  find  them  named  till  1775,  when 
*'  mocus  and  marquasite  broaches"  were  of- 
fered for  sale.  A  little  later  came  **  gold 
broaches  with  devices  of  hair  and  pearl." 

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Brunswick.  A  habit  or  riding  coat  for 
ladies'  wear,  said  to  have  been  introduced  in 
England  in  1750  from  Germany.  It  had 
collar,  lappets  and  buttons  like  a  man's  coat, 
and  of  course  Boston  dames  had  to  follow 
English  fashions;  so  Boston  milliners  had 
Brunswicks  for  sale,  and  also  Prussian  cloaks. 

Bryks.     See  Breeches. 

Buckles.  Weeden,  in  his  Economic  and 
Social  History  of  New  England,  says  that 
shoebuckles  for  women's  wear  were  out  of 
fashion  in  1727;  but  we  find  that  man  of 
importance  in  the  commonwealth — Judge 
Sewall — ^giving  the  Widow  Denison,  in  1728, 
a  pair  that  cost  five  shillings  and  sixpence. 
By  1750  we  find  advertised,  in  the  Boston 
Gazette,  *' women's  white  shoebuckles." 
They  must  have  been  in  constant  wear  by 
men  at  that  date,  for  they  appear  in  every 
shopkeeper's  list  both  North  and  South,  and 
in  many  of  the  inventories  of  goods  ordered 
abroad  for  children's  and  grown  persons* 
wear.  In  the  Connecticut  Courant  of  May 
I,  1773,  we  read  of  *' silver,  plated,  and 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


pinchbeck  shoe,  knee,  and  stock  buckles ;  *  * 
also  *' bootbuckles  and  Ladies'  Elegant  Set 
Shoe  Buckles."  Kneebuckles  were  also  an 
important  article  of  dress,  being  made  of  gold 
and  silver  and  set  with  paste  jewels.  Gov- 
ernor Belcher  had  gold  kneebuckles. 

BuFFONTS.  A  full  projecting  covering  for 
a  lady's  throat  and  breast,  made  of  gauze  or 
lace  or  linen,  and  much  worn  from  1750  to 
1790,  according  to  English  magazines  of 
these  years.  It  was  confined  by  the  bodice 
and  puffed  out  above  like  the  breast  of  a 
pouter  pigeon.  In  1784,  in  the  Salem  news- 
papers, ' '  Thread  and  Net  Buffonts  ' '  and 
**  Gauze  Buffons  "  were  advertised,  and  in 
the  Massachusetts  Gazette  of  May,  1771, 
"  Hair  bouffes  and  mops." 

Bugles.  These  tube-shaped  black  glass 
beads  were  offered  for  sale  in  Boston  as  early 
as  1740,  and  spelled  beaugles.  Spenser,  in 
the  Shepherd^ s  Calendar^  i579>  spelt  it 
beaugles. 

Buskins.  In  a  few  inventories  I  find  bus- 
kins named.     Richard  Sawyer,  of  Windsor, 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Conn.,  had  a  pair  of  cloth  *' buskens  "  in 
1648.  As  late  as  1743  a  Boston  runaway 
wore  off  "gray  stockings  with  blue  buskins 
over  them,"  and  a  Pennsylvania  redemp- 
tioner  wore  sliders  with  buskins.  Buskins 
were  also  called  kit-packs.  They  were  a  sort 
of  half-boot. 

Buttons.  The  waistcoats  and  mandill- 
ions  and  doublets  of  the  Bay  colonists  were 
fastened  with  hooks  and  eyes,  but  buttons 
must  have  been  worn  also,  for  John  Eliot 
ordered  for  traffic  with  the  Indians  in  165 1 
three  gross  of  pewter  buttons.  Robert 
Keayne,  of  Boston,  writing  in  1653,  said 
bitterly  that  a  "  haynous  offence"  of  his 
had  been  selling  buttons  at  too  large  profit — 
that  they  were  gold  buttons  and  he  had  sold 
them  for  two  shillings  ninepence  a  dozen  in 
Boston,  when  they  had  cost  but  two  shillings 
a  dozen  in  London  ;  which  does  not  seem,  in 
the  light  of  our  modern  duties  on  imported 
goods,  a  very  "  haynous  "  profit.  He  also 
added  with  acerbity  that  ''  they  were  never 
payd  for  by  those  that  complayned. ' '  These 
gilt  and  silvered  buttons  must  have  been 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


fashionable,  for  I  find  them  often  named.  In 
a  tailor's  bill  of  1679  I  find  an  item  of  **  i 
Dozen  &  ^  Silver  Buttons,  ish  6d." 

Sir  WilUam  Pepperell,  writing  to  London 
in  1737,  ordered  '' mohere  buttons  and 
mohere  answerable,"  showing  that  buttons 
were  made  to  match  stuffs;  and  he  also 
ordered  ''12  grose  Cheap  mettal  bottens 
and  12  grose  coat  bottens."  The  buttons 
displayed  in  his  portrait  are  very  large.  He 
did  not  need  to  send  to  London  for  them ; 
there  were  for  sale  at  that  time  in  Boston 
''Gold  and  Silver  Frosted  Buttons,  Cloth 
colored  Horsehair  Buttons  All  Sorts,  Silver 
Washed  Metal  Buttons,"  and  many  other 
varieties. 

Buttons  were  made  of  coins,  often  of 
Spanish  dollars  ;  and  pewter  buttons  were 
cast  at  home  in  button  moulds.  A  very 
grotesque  form  of  buttons  was  of  horses'  teeth 
set  in  brass.  By  Revolutionary  times  basket 
and  deathshead  buttons  became  so  fashion- 
able and  so  largely  sold  tliat  for  many  years 
every  newspaper  throughout  the  country 
contained  advertisements  of  them.  It  is 
safe  to  believe  that  buttons  were  worn  con- 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


stantly  on  men's  clothes,  from  the  earliest 
colonial  days,  and  varied  but  slightly  in 
their  position  on  garments  from  that  of  the 
present  day.  They  were  also  worn  on 
looped  or  cocked  hats. 

Button  -  Holes.  Button  -  holes  were  a 
matter  of  ornament  as  well  as  of  use.  They 
were  carefully  cut  and  * '  laid  around ' ' 
bound  in  gay  colors,  embroidered,  with  sil- 
ver and  gold  thread,  bound  with  vellum. 
We  find  in  old-time  letters  directions  about 
modish  button  -  holes,  and  drawings  even, 
in  order  that  the  shape  may  be  exactly  as 
wished.  In  the  New  England  Weekly  Jour- 
nal^ in  1737,  we  find  advertised  "Silver 
and  Gold  Thread  for  Button  Holes,  and  Sil- 
ver and  Gold  Sleazy  Thread  for  Stitching 
and  embroidering." 

Caddis.  A  woollen  tape  or  coarse  crew- 
ell  used  as  a  cheap  trimming  or  woven  in- 
to garters.  It  is  frequently  spelled  cadiss, 
as  in  t\iQ  Boston  News  Letter  in  1736,  or 
caddas,  caddice  and  caddes,  and  often 
classed  with  qualities,  another  coarse  bind- 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


ing  tape.  The  word  is  familiar  to  us 
through  its  use  in  the  works  of  the  old  Eng- 
lish dramatists.  Caddis  was  in  the  pedler's 
pack  in  The  Winter's  Tale. 

Calash. 

Hail,  great  Calash!  o'erwhelming  veil, 

By  all-indulgent  Heaven 
To  sallow  nymphs  and  maidens  stale, 

In  sportive  kindness  given. 

Thus  wTote  a  Yankee  poet  in  RiviiigtorC s 
New  York  Gazette  and  in  a  Norwich  news- 
paper in  1780. 

The  calash  is  said  to  have  been  invented 
by  the  Duchess  of  Bedford  in  the  year  1765, 
though  similar  head-coverings  may  be  seen 
on  English  effigies  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
It  was  an  enormous  head-covering,  a  veri- 
table sunshade,  which  could  scarcely  be 
called  a  bonnet.  It  was  usually  made  of 
thin  green  silk  shirred  on  strong  lengths  of 
rattan  or  whalebone  placed  two  or  three 
inches  apart,  which  were  drawn  in  at  the 
neck ;  and  it  was  sometimes,  though  seldom, 
finished  with  a  narrow  cape.  It  was  extend- 
ible over  the  face  like  the  top  or  hood  of  an 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


old-fashioned  chaise  or  calash,  from  which 
latter  it  doubtless  received  its  name.  It 
could  be  drawn  out  by  narrow  ribbons  or 
bridles  which  were  fastened  to  the  edge  at 
the  top.  The  calash  could  also  be  pushed 
into  a  close  gathered  mass  at  the  back  of 
the  head.  Thus,  standing  well  up  from 
the  head,  tliey  formed  a  good  covering  for 
the  high-dressed  and  powdered  heads  of  the 
date  when  they  fashionably  were  worn — from 
1765  throughout  the  century;  and  for  the 
caps  worn  in  the  beginning  of  this  century. 
They  were  frequently  a  foot  and  a  half  in 
diameter  and  were  sometimes  of  brown  or 
gray  silk,  and  I  know  of  two  made  of  thin 
white  dimity,  to  be  worn  to  evening  parties 
by  two  young  misses  about  sixty  years  ago. 
They  were  seen  on  the  heads  of  old  ladies  in 
country  towns  in  New  England  certainly 
until  1840,  and  possibly  later.  In  England 
they  were  also  worn  until  that  date,  as  we 
learn  from  Mrs.  Gaskell's  Cranford,  and 
Thackeray's  Vanity  Fair. 

Calico.     Calicoes  are  spoken  of  by  Jos- 
selyn  in  his  JVew  EnglamV  s  Rarities,  who 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


says  that  *'  callicoes  and  aligers  "  were  readily- 
vendible  in  New  England,  and  specially 
sends  for '^  blevv-callicoe."  John  Wynter 
had  six  ''  Calciie  Shiirtes  "  in  1636.  Pepys 
wrote  forty  years  later  that  the  English  cus- 
toms officers  taxed  it  as  linen,  while  the  East 
India  Company  asserted  that  it  was  made  of 
cotton  wool  that  grew  on  trees.  Though 
the  name  occasionally  appears  in  American 
inventories  and  descriptions  of  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century  (as  in  the  posses- 
sions of  witch  Anne  Hibbins  in  1656,  **  5 
painted  Callico  curtains  &  vaHants  "),  cali- 
coes were  neither  universally  nor  fashionably 
worn  until  after  the  Revolution,  when  Bris- 
sot  wrote  :  ' '  Calicoes  and  chintzes  dress  the 
women  and  children."  I  read  in  an  old 
newspaper:  "Since  the  peace,  calico  has 
become  the  general  fashion  of  our  country- 
women, and  is  worn  by  females  of  all  condi- 
tions at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  both  in  town 
and  country."  The  French  calicoes  were 
extremely  delicate  in  color,  fine  of  texture, 
and  high  in  price,  and  were  worn  in  mid- 
winter, even  in  the  icy  churches.  They 
were  also  used  to  trim  other  and  richer  ma- 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


terials.  Such  advertisements  as  this,  from 
the  Boston  Evening  Post  in  1743,  may  fre- 
quently be  seen:  *'Demy  Chinted  Callico 
Borders  for  Womens  Petticoats. ' ' 

These  calicoes  came  in  many  fanciful  de- 
signs. We  read  of  patterns  called  ''liberty 
peak,"  ''basket  work,"  "  Covent  Garden 
cross-bar,"  "  Ranelagh  half-moon,"  "  Prus- 
sian stormont,"  "harlequin  moth,"  "a  fine 
check  inclosing  four  Lions  Rampant  and 
three  flours  de  Luce."  1  have  seen  old 
calicoes  stamped  with  portraits  of  Benjamin 
Franklin  and  George  Washington,  and  an- 
other design  with  the  presentment  of  some 
British  officer.  As  these  designs  were 
stamped  with  blocks  by  hand,  it  was  easy  to 
order  special  patterns  for  special  uses,  such 
as  bed-hangings.  At  Deerfield  Memorial 
Hall  may  be  seen  a  full  stock  of  all  the  old- 
time  tools  and  machines  used  in  weaving  and 
printing  calico,  including  the  old  hand- 
stamps. 

Callimanco.  Fairholt  says,  erroneous- 
ly, that  this  was  a  glazed  linen  stuff;  it  was 
a  substantial  and  fashionable  woollen  stuff. 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


The  name  is  said  to  have  meant,  originally, 
a  head-covering  made  of  camel's  hair ;  later, 
by  derivation,  a  vestment  of  the  Pope.  It 
was  a  woollen  stuff  of  fine  gloss,  either  ribbed 
or  plain,  and  was  used  for  many  articles  of 
men's  and  women's  attire,  and  largely  used 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century  for  women's 
shoes.  It  was  worn  certainly  as  early  as 
1666  in  America ;  Martha*  Emmons,  of  Bos- 
ton, left  by  will  at  that  date  a  "  callimanco 
gound."  In  1592  it  had  been  woven  in 
England.  James  Fontaine,  a  Huguenot  set- 
tler of  Virginia,  gives  in  his  memoirs  a  care- 
ful account  of  his  attempt  to  manufacture 
oallimanco  in  1694,  and  says  it  was  made 
of  an  extremely  fine  double  twisted  worsted 
thread.  Pepperell,  writing  abroad  in  1737, 
ordered  a  ''peace  of  flowered  Callimanco 
suitable  to  make  my  mother  aWinf  gown," 
and  the  same  for  his  wife.  In  a  letter  pub- 
lished in  the  Collections  of  the  Lexington 
Historical  Society  relating  to  the  visit  of 
Washington  to  that  town  in  November,  1 789, 
we  read  that,  to  do  him  full  honor,  "  Lucin- 
dy,  pert  minx,  had  a  most  lovely  Gown  of 
Green  Callamanco  with  Plumes  to  her  hatt. '  * 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Camlet.  A  stuff  either  of  hair,  of  silk,  or 
of  wool,  or  of  all  these  materials  in  various 
combinations,  in  universal  use  from  early- 
colonial  days,  especially  for  cloaks  and  petti- 
coats. Camlets  were  also  plain,  twilled, 
or  of  double  or  single  warp,  and  they  fre- 
quently were  watered.  In  1652  Dorothie 
King,  of  Weymouth,  had  a  *'haire  couller 
water  chamlett  goune,"  and  we  read  con- 
stantly of  camlet  cloaks  till  well  into  this 
century.  I  have  found  vast  variety  in  the 
spelling  of  the  word :  chamelot,  camblet, 
chamlett,  camilet,  as  well  as  camlet. 

Cantsloper.     See  Slops. 

Cap.  In  Durfey's  Wit  &>  Mirth,  or  Pills 
to  Purge  Melancholy,  there  is  a  ballad  on 
caps  which  proves  that 

Any  cap  what  e'er  it  be 

Is  still  the  sign  of  some  degree. 

The  author  mentions 

The  Monmouth  cap,  the  saylors  thrum 
And  that  wherein  the  tradesmen  come  ; 
The  physicke,  lawe,  the  cap  divine. 
And  that  which  crowns  the  Muses  Nine. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Monmouth  caps,  worth  two  shillings  each, 
were  furnished  to  the  Massachusetts  colo- 
nists. These  were  much  worn  by  seafaring 
men.  We  read,  in  A  Satyr  on  Sea  Offi- 
cers "With  Monmouth  cap  and  cutlass  at 
my  side,  striding  at  least  a  yard  at  every 
stride."  Washington  also  ordered  them  as 
late  as  1769.  "Red  mill'd  capps,"  worth 
five  pence  apiece,  were  supplied  to  the  Bay 
emigrants.  The  portraits  of  Endicott,  Se- 
wall,  and  many  others,  especially  wig-haters, 
show  black  skull-caps.  In  the  various  Bos- 
ton newspapers  by  the  year  1740,  we  find 
advertised,  "  Strip'd  and  Scarlett  Single  & 
Double  Worsted  Caps,  Round-puflf't  and 
Quilted  Caps;  Fine  Imbroidered  Velvett 
Caps,  Kilmarnock  Mill'd  Caps,  Thrumb'd 
Caps." 

Women's  caps  were  of  equal  variety  by 
the  middle  of  the  century.  We  read  of 
"  Fly  caps  with  Egrets,  Drest  Gauze  Caps," 
round  ear'd  caps  (which  had  no  strings), 
strap  caps  (which  had  a  strap  under  the 
chin).  Bugle  fly  caps  were  worn  in  Penn- 
sylvania about  1760.  Mob  caps  were  de- 
scribed as  a  caul  with  two  lappets,  and  were 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


much  worn.  They  were  sloiichy,  baggy 
caps,  with  floppy  frills  or  ruffles  —  not  ele- 
gant for  full  dress.  Mr.  Felt  quotes  a  letter 
written  from  Cape  Cod  in  1720  : 

Mobs  are  now  worn  but  not  so  long  by  a  quarter 
of  a  yard  as  mine.  I  was  forced  to  cut  mine  half  a 
quarter  from  each  end  to  make  them  short  enough 
for  the  fashion. 

These  mobs  must  have  been  the  streamers 
upon  the  mob-caps.  Ranelagh  mobs  were 
made  of  gauze  or  net,  puffed  about  the  head, 
with  two  ends  crossed  under  the  chin  and 
then  tied  at  the  back,  and  left  hanging  in 
floating  ends.  The  Queen's  night-cap, 
though  similar  in  shape,  was  made  of  richer 
gauze  and  was  more  trim  and  compact.  It 
is  familiar  to  us  through  having  been  worn 
by  Martha  Washington  and  shown  in  her 
portraits.  It  remained  in  fashion  for  nearly 
half  a  century. 

See  Biggin,  Curch,  Coif,  Mercury. 

Capuchin.  A  hooded  cloak,  so  called 
from  its  resemblance  to  the  hooded  garment 
worn   by   the    Capuchin  monks.     Fairholt, 

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Planch6,  and  other  English  writers  say  capu- 
chins were  introduced  into  England  in  1752, 
but  this  date  is  incorrect ;  the  name  appears 
in  English  publications  as  early  as  1709. 
Fielding  used  it  in  *'  Tom  Jones  "  in  1749, 
and  the  Covent  Garden  Journal  of  May  i, 
1752,  says: 

Within  my  memory  the  ladies  covered  their  lovely 
necks  with  a  Cloak,  this  was  exchanged  lor  the  man- 
teel,  this  again  was  succeeded  by  the  pelorine,  the 
pelorine  by  the  neckatee,  the  neckatee  by  the  capu- 
chin which  hath  now  stood  its  ground  for  a  long- 
time. 

Even  in  America,  in  1749,  the  Boston 
Gazette  advertised  * '  Cappechines. ' '  In 
June,  1753,  Harriet  Paine,  the  Boston  shop- 
keeper, had  '*  Flowered  and  Spotted  Velvet 
for  Capuchin  Cloaks."  Pink  and  figured 
mode  capuchines,  and  colored  and  black  silk, 
and  black  flowered  mode  for  these  cloaks 
came  next,  and  were  advertised  in  South 
Carolina  newspapers.  Fringe  also  appeared, 
and  in  1767  crimson  capuchin  silk  was  worth 
four  shillings  and  sixpence  a  yard.  In  order 
to  show  how  rich  a  cloak  and  how  richly 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


trimmed  these  capuchins  were,  let  me  quote 
this  notice  from  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of 
January  13,  1772  : 

Taken  from  Concert  Hall  on  Thursday  Evening  a 
handsom  Crimson  Satin  Capuchin  trimmed  with  a 
rich  white  Blond  Lace  with  a  narrow  Blond  Lace  on 
the  upper  edge  Lined  with  White  Sarsnet. 

Twelve  dollars  reward  was  offered  for  its 
return.  They  were  for  many  years  much 
worn  by  women  of  fashion,  and  were  used 
as  a  riding-hood. 

Cardinal.  A  hooded  cloak  greatly  worn 
during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  name  continued  in  use  till  this 
century.  It  was  originally  of  scarlet  cloth, 
like  the  mozetta  of  a  cardinal ;  hence  its 
name.  Cardinals  appear  in  Hogarth's  prints, 
and  are  advertised  in  many  New  England 
papers  for  many  years  and  in  the  Maryland 
Gazette  in  1769. 

Carsey.     See  Kersey. 

Cassock.     Steevens  says  a  cassock  '^sig- 
nifies a  horseman's  loose  coat,  and  is  used  in 
81 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


that  sense  by  the  writers  of  the  age  of 
Shakespeare."  It  was  apparently  a  garment 
much  like  a  coat  or  jerkin,  and  the  names 
were  used  interchangeably.  It  finally  be- 
came applied  only  to  the  coat  or  gown  of 
the  clergy.  In  the  * '  enuentory  ' '  of  the 
goods  supplied  to  the  Piscataquay  Planta- 
tions in  1635  are  these  items: 

50  Cloth    Cassocks  &  breeches 
153  Canvass       "         "         " 
40  Shot  "         "         " 

In  the  will  of  Robert  Saltonstall,  made  in 
1650,  he  names  a  ''Plush  Cassock,"  but 
cloth  cassocks  were  the  commonest  wear. 
In  the  sixteenth  century  cassocks  were  worn 
by  Englishwomen,  but  I  have  found  no 
reference  to  their  being  worn  by  women  in 
our  colonies. 

Castor.     See  Hat. 

Catgut.  A  cloth  woven  in  cords  and 
used  for  Hning  and  stiffening  garments;  and 
also  I  judge,  from  Mrs.  Delany's  reference  to 
it,  as   a   canvas   for   embroidery    purposes. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 

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John  Adams,  in  his  diary,  under  date  1766, 
tells  of  sitting  to  *  *  hear  the  ladies  talk  of 
catgut,  Paris  net  and  riding-hoods."  It 
was  advertised  in  the  newspapers  until  this 
century. 

Caul.  A  caul  was  a  net  to  confine  the 
hair,  or  a  flat-netted  head-dress.  The  word  is 
said  to  have  been  thus  used  from  the  Middle 
Ages  to  the  seventeenth  century.  I  find  it 
thus  employed  in  Virginia  in  1642,  in  the 
inventory  of  one  Richard  Lusthead.  As 
indicating  the  hinder  portions  of  a  woman's 
cap,  the  word  was  used  till  this  century.  It 
was  also  applied  to  one  part  of  a  wig. 

Cherridary.  This  was  an  Indian  cotton 
stuff  much  like  a  gingham.  It  was  adver- 
tised for  sale  by  the  names  cheridery,  cher- 
riderrey,  charidery,  from  1712  until  Revo- 
lutionary times,  and  may  have  been  cheap, 
as  it  often  appears  as  the  material  of  vari- 
ous articles  of  apparel  of  runaways ;  ''  cheri- 
dary  wascotes,"  a  "  cherrederry  gown,"  a 
**cherredary  apron,"  &c.  It  is  most  fre- 
quently specified  as  being  *'  narrow  stript." 
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CiFFER. — See  Coif. 

Cloak.  This  garment  has  been  worn  by 
both  sexes  from  the  time  of  the  landing  of 
the  Cavaliers  and  Pilgrims.  Ellinor  Tras- 
ler  had  a  sad-colored  cloak  in  1654.  An- 
other colonist  had  a  ''white  Hair  camblet 
Cloke  lyned  with  blue."  ''Silk  short 
Cloaks"  were  the  wear  in  1737,  and  in 
1742  there  were  advertised  in  the  News 
Letter-.  "  Womens  Cloaks  of  most  Colours  ; 
viz :  Scarlet,  Crimson,  Cloth  Colour,  made 
after  the  newest  Fashion."  Robert  Sal  ton - 
stall  had  a  "  gray  cloke  and  a  Sadd  collered 
Cloke,"  and  Major  Pyncheon's  "  moehaire 
cloke"  was  worth  one  pound  in  1703. 

Clogs.  Clogs  appear  in  newspaper  ad- 
vertisements from  1737  throughout  the 
eighteenth  century.  In  England  the  name 
was  used  as  early  as  141 6.  These  over- 
shoes were  made  of  various  materials.  I 
find  named  for  sale  brocaded,  leather-eared, 
leather-toed,  silk,  velvet-banded,  worsted, 
black  velvet,  white  damask,  flowered  silk 
and  prunella  clogs.  The  stilted  soles  were 
of  wood  or  thick  leather,  and  the  upper 
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bands  were  frequently  made  to  match  the 
shoes  or  slippers  with  which  the  clogs  were 
intended  to  be  worn.  White  damask  clogs 
were  certainly  worthy  the  wear  of  a  bride. 
Common  clogs  were  worth  in  171 7  fifteen 
pence  a  pair,  and  in  1764  one  shilling  six 
pence  a  pair.  Old  clogs  can  be  seen  at  the 
Deerfield  Memorial  Hall. 

Clout.     We  read  in  Hamlet  : 

.     .     .      a  clout  upon  that  head 
Where  late  the  diadem  stood  ; 

and  in  T/ie  Debate  betweeii  Pride  and  Low- 
liness, 

With  homely  clouts  i-knitt  upon  their  head 
Simple  yet  white  as  thing  so  coarse  might  be. 

A  clout  was  a  coarse  kerchief  or  covering  for 
the  head.  I  find  the  word  in  Maryland  in- 
ventories. 

Coats.     I  do  not  find  coats  named  in  the 
inventories  of  the  goods  and  clothing  fur- 
nished to  the  planters  at  Plymouth  and  at 
Massachusetts    Bay ;  but   the   emigrants   to 
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the  Piscataquay  Plantations  had  ''27  Lined 
Coats,  16  Moose  Coats.,  and  15  Papous 
Coats, ' '  which  latter  garment,  after  frequent 
encounter  in  similar  inventories  and  "  pain- 
ful "  investigation  and  consideration,  I  have 
found  to  be  pappoose  coats.  These  would 
appear  to  be  children's  coats,  but  in  a  con- 
temporary record  I  also  find  that ' '  three  pa- 
poose skins  were  equal  in  value  to  one  beaver 
skin,"  so  I  wish  to  believe  that  the  word  pa- 
poose meant  something  other  than  an  Indian 
baby.  Josselyn  said  that  moose-skin  made 
'*  excellent  coats  for  martial  men,"  so  doubt- 
less the  Piscataquay  warriors  wore  the  moose 
coats.  The  name  and  garment  quickly 
came  into  vogue  in  Boston.  Raccoon-skin 
coats  were  worn :  one  owned  by  Thomas 
Fenner  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  was  worth  ten 
shillings.  Until  our  own  day  huntsmen  and 
frontiersmen  wore  deerskin  coats  or  jack- 
ets, picturesque  and  appropriate  garments. 
The  Apostle  Eliot  received  by  the  will  of 
Joseph  Weld  in  1646  the  gift  of  "  a  tawny 
cloth  coat,"  and  in  the  same  year  a  neigh- 
bor, John  Pope  of  Dorchester,  bequeathed 
**  two  Vper  Coates,"  which  were  overcoats 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


I  fancy.  In  1 640  Robert  Keayne  of  Boston 
paid  ^^ £,"2.  \os.  for  a  silver  lac'd  coat  and  a 
gold  lac'd  hat,"  while  in  the  same  year 
three  plainer  coats  were  worth  the  same 
amount. 

Scarlet  coats  were  plentiful  in  New  Eng- 
land at  that  time,  and  Winthrop  ordered  in 
1636  a  coat  of  ''sad  foulding-colour  without 
lace." 

John  Wynter,  in  1636,  had  coats  for  the 
Indians  that  were  worth  ''2  lb.  Beaver" 
apiece.  He  writes  to  the  consigner,  ''  The 
coates  are  good,  but  somewhat  of  the  short- 
est. The  Indyans  make  choyse  of  the  long- 
est.    They  pass  best. ' ' 

The  coat,  as  worn  by  men,  is  said  by  Fair- 
holt  to  have  originated  from  the  long  waist- 
coat, or  vest  as  Pepys  called  it,  worn  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.,  and  for  many  years  it  was 
straight  and  full-skirted.  It  was  not  sloped 
away  at  the  sides  till  the  time  of  George 
III. — until  macaroni  time.  All  drawings  or 
descriptions  of  men's  costumes  assigned  to 
earlier  days  should  have  square-skirted  coats, 
save  in  the  case  of  a  soldier's  uniform,  which 
ere  that  date  had  been  turned  back  in  lapels 
87 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


or  revers  for  convenience's  sake,  and  held 
back  by  buttons.  The  memorandum  of 
George  Washington,  given  on  page  40,  shows 
the  shape  of  coat  which  was  fashionable  in 
the  middle  of  the  century  in  America. 

Horsemen's  coats  are  frequently  mentioned 
in  early  days ;  for  instance,  in  the  will  of  one 
Metcalfe,  in  1664 — '*  My  largest  gray  Horse- 
man's Coat."  Gabriel  Harris,  of  New  Lon- 
don, had  in  1684  a  ''Broadcloth  Coat  with 
Red  lining  &  a  white  Serge  coat, ' '  quite  showy 
articles  of  attire.  From  advertisements  of 
runaways  we  learn  of  the  various  names  ap- 
plied to  various  styles  of  coats.  A  deserter 
wore,  in  1704,  a  "  white  cape  cloth  watch- 
coat  ;  "  a  negro  wore  off  in  the  same  year  ' '  a 
Sad  colour' d  old  Coat  or  new  light  Drugget 
coat  with  Buttons,  Holes,  and  Linings  of 
black  ;  "  another  runaway  had  on  a  "  Grego 
Watch  Coat. ' '  Peter  Faneuil  bought  in  1 738 
*'  2  Large  Fine  Well  painted  Beaver  Coats," 
for  sleighing.  We  read,  under  the  date  1736, 
of  the  loss  of  a  "  Great  Coat  of  Red  Whitney 
with  red  velvet  Cape.  The  Coat  a  little 
fuUy'd  at  the  Back." 

Perhaps  the  most  curious  name  given  to  a 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


coat  was  one  in  the  Virginia  Gazette  of  May 
2»  1757 — *'  A  Thunder  and  Lightning  Coat ; 
otherwise  German  Sarge." 

Children  wore  coats.  Judge  Sewall  ap- 
propriately gave  one  of  '^blew,  faced  with 
red,"  to  a  Httle  Puritan  Aaron.  John  Cor- 
win  paid,  in  1679,  six  shillings  for  having  a 
coat  made  for  one  of  his  children.  Women 
wore  coats  also.  The  wotd  was  applied  to 
their  upper  garments,  and  also  to  the  petti- 
coats, and  it  is  often  difficult  to  decide  to 
which  it  refers.  Sometimes  it  is  thus  used  : 
*'  Petty  Coats,  Peti -cotes,"  or,  as  Sewall  wrote 
it,  "Petit-coats."  The  "turkey  mohere 
coate"  of  Martha  Emmons  in  1666,  the 
"  blew  shorte  Coate,  Green  Vnder  Coate, 
and  Kersey  Coate"  of  Jane  Humphreys  in 
1668,  were  apparently  outer  garments.  The 
"Silk  Crape  Quilted  Coat"  that  runaway 
Keziah  Wampum  eloped  with  in  1740  seems 
somewhat  difficult  to  place.  See  Petti- 
coat. 

Cockade.     The  first  naming  of  this  word 
or   article   was    in    Rabelais,  where   it  was 
written    coquaide.       In     1660    we    read   of 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


cockaxded  hats.  Steele  and  Pope  wrote  of 
cockards.  Ribbon  cockades  were  worn  by 
women  on  hats  and  in  the  hair,  as  well  as 
by  men  on  cocked  hats.  In  1755  Horeshair 
"cocades"  were  advertised  in  the  Boston 
Evening  Post ;  then,  gold,  silver,  lace,  and 
wire  cockades.  Federalist  cockades  were 
roses  of  white  and  black  ribbon. 

Cockers.  Also  spelled  cocurs,  cocrez,  and 
cokers.  Laced  high  shoes  or  half-boots; 
also  thick  stockmg  legs  without  feet.  The 
name  is  still  used  in  England,  as  it  was  in 
Piers  Ploughman's  time,  but  is  obsolete  in 
New  England. 

Coif.  I  find  the  words  coif,  quoife, 
quoyf,  quoiff,  ciffer,  coifer,  quiffer,  and  quiff, 
all  used  in  New  England  to  refer  to  a  close 
head-dress  or  cap.  The  words  had  applied 
originally  to  a  hood  or  cap,  equally  for 
men's  and  women's  wear,  but  appear  in  this 
country  to  have  been  used  only  for  wom- 
en's headgear.  In  a  letter  to  Winthrop, 
dated  1636,  we  read  of  **  cutt-worke  coifes.'* 
And  the  Indian  braves  called  English  women 
90 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


*'Lazie  Squaes  "  because  they  sat  at  home 
"  embroidering  coifs  "  instead  of  digging  in 
the  fields  for  their  lords.  Mary  Haines's  in- 
ventory in  New  London,  in  1655,  contained 
both  the  word  ciffer  and  quoyf.  Jane 
Humphrey  left  behind  her  in  1668  ''  a  plain 
black  Quoife  without  any  lace,  and  my  best 
quoife  with  a  lace."  John  Pyncheon,  of 
Springfield,  sold  in  1653  **  blew  coifers  "  to 
Henry  Burt  that  were  worth  five  shillings 
apiece."  In  Virginia  the  word  was  usually 
spelled  quoiff. 

Colchester  Cloth.     See  Baize. 

CoLVERTEEN.     See  Lace. 

Comb.  In  the  list  of  orders  which  John 
Eliot  sent  to  England  in  1651  he  specified 
*'  4  Boxes  of  Combes  "  for  the  Indians,  thus 
proving  that  he  deemed  cleanliness  next  to 
godliness.  In  1737  Sir  William  Pepperell, 
ordering  also  for  trade  with  the  Indians, 
wished  "I  Grose  Horn  Combes,  I  Grose 
Ivory  small  teeth  Combes."  In  1763  in 
the  Boston  Evening  Post,  were  advertised 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


*'  Fine  Dander  Combs,  Horn  &  Buckling 
Combs,  Toiiper  Combs  with  &  without 
Cases,"  and  again,  ''Fine  Dand  riff  Combs, 
and  Tupee  Cramber  Combs."  Ten  years 
later  came  ''Tortoise  Shell  Poll  Combs, 
Ivory  Tupee  &  Tail  Combs,"  and  then  "  Bent 
combs;"  proving  that  they  had — as  I  saw 
advertised  in  the  Connecticut  Courant — 
"combs  of  every  denomination."  I  have 
seen  an  old  case  of  tortoise  -  shell  dressing 
combs  about  one  hundred  years  old.  The 
teeth  were  heavier  and  coarser  than  in  our 
modern  combs;  hence  perhaps  their  safe 
preservation  to  the  present  day. 

The  great  "poll  combs"  of  shell,  horn 
or  silver,  for  ornamenting  the  head  are  fa- 
miliar to  us  all,  and  have  been  worn  almost 
to  the  present  day. 

Cornet.  Cotgrave  said  a  cornet  was  "  a 
fashion  of  Shadow  or  Boone  grace  vsed  in 
old  time  and  to  this  day  by  some  old  women, ' ' 
and  Evelyn  speaks  of  "  the  upper  pinner  of 
a  cornet  dangling  about  her  cheeks  like 
hounds  ears."  The  head -covering  of  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  is  called  a  cor- 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


net.  Cornets  and  cornuted  caps  appear  in 
early  New  York  inventories,  and  were  ap- 
parently a  Dutch  fashion. 

Copper-Clouts.     See  Spatterdashes. 

Corsets.     See  Stays. 

CouRCHEF.    Same  meaning  as  curch,  q.  v. 

Cravat.  Blount  in  1656  called  a  cravat 
* '  a  new  fashioned  Gorget  which  women 
wear. ' '  Lawn  cravats  were  advertised  in  the 
Boston  Evening  Post  as  early  as  1753.  The 
Governor  of  Acadia  had  lace  cravats  in 
1690.  Governor  Berkeley,  of  Virginia, 
ordered  in  1660  a  cravat  which  was  to  cost 
five  pounds.  Such  rich  neck  wear  as  that 
could  not  have  been  found  in  New  England 
at  that  date.  In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  we  often  read  of  ''black  mill'd 
cravats." 

Crewell.  Fine  worsted  used  originally 
for  fringe  and  garters,  then  for  embroidery 
purposes. 

Crocus.     There  is  no  clew  whatever  to  the 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


quality  of  this  stuff,  though  the  word  was  for 
a  century  in  common  use.  Nor  does  the 
definition  of  the  word  in  this  sense  appear  in 
any  English  or  American  dictionary.  A 
runaway  slave  was  advertised  in  the  Boston 
News  Letter  of  October,  1704,  as  wearing  a 
**  Crocus  Apron;"  others  in  the  Virginia 
Gazette  of  1757  with  ''  Crocus  Trowzers." 
In  a  crazily  wild  letter  written  from  the  Bar- 
badoes  by  Richard  Hall  to  Benning  Went- 
worth  in  17 19,  he  says  of  smuggling,  *'This 
is  indeed  to  squint  over  the  Left  Shoulder,  to 
run  Crocus  under  a  wrapper  of  Ozenbrigs," 
which  would  seem  to  imply  that  crocus  was 
a  fine  and  costly  fabric.  Still,  *'  trowzers  " 
at  that  date  were  made  wholly  of  coarse  linen 
and  tow  stuffs,  not  of  rich  or  heavy  materials. 
Miss  Caroline  Hazard  in  her  interesting  ac- 
count of  Narragansett  colonial  days — College 
Tom — gives  many  valuable  household  inven- 
tories. From  them  we  learn  that  in  1760 
the  cost  of  weaving  crocus  was  but  half  that 
of  weaving  flannel ;  which  would  also  imply 
that  crocus  was  a  cheap  coarse  stuff.  Its 
general  wear  by  slaves  and  servants  would 
point  to  the  same  conclusion. 

94 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Crosscloth.  a  crosscloth  was  a  portion 
of  a  woman's  head-dress  worn  with  a  coif  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  was  apparently 
the  same  as  a  forehead  cloth.  I  find  "  crosse- 
cloths  "  enumerated  with  quoifes  in  the  pos- 
sessions of  Richard  Lusthead  in  Maryland  in 
1642.  A  Puritan  of  Wenham,  Mass.,  and 
another  of  Dorchester  had  them  in  1647. 
Hence,  they  were  worn  by  both  Puritan  and 
Cavalier  dames. 

CuRCH.  This  word,  as  used  in  New 
England  and  in  Pennsylvania,  designated  an 
inner  cap  for  the  head,  worn  by  women,  and 
usually  of  plain  linen.  It  is  doubtless  an 
abbreviation  of  kerchief,  and  is  of  Scotch 
origin.  It  is  frequently  used  by  Scott  in  his 
novels,  and  a  note  in  T/ie  Lady  of  the  Lake 
says,  '■ '  The  snood  was  exchanged  for  the 
curch,  toy,  or  coif,  when  a  Scottish  lass 
passed  by  marriage  into  the  matron  state. ' ' 

CusTALL.     See  Stays. 

CUTWORK. 

' '  Cut  werke  was  greate  both  in  court  and  tounes, 
Both  in  menes  hoddis  and  also  in  their  gounes." 

A  portrait  of  Louis  of  Anjou  shows  him 
95 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


dressed  in  a  hood,  siirtout,  and  a  long 
shoulder  sash  all  edged  with  cutwork — a 
graceful  openwork  embroidery  in  the  shape 
of  leaves.  The  excessive  use  of  cutwork 
embroidery  was  forbidden  to  the  Puritans, 
yet  cutwork  coifs  were  worn  in  the  new  land. 
Christopher  Youngs,  of  Wenham,  Mass., 
owned  them  in  1647  ;  and  one  writer  com- 
plained of  the  vanity  of  the  Pilgrims  in 
sending  to  England  for  cutwork.  The 
Massachusetts  Indians  noted,  as  did  Burton 
in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy ^  that  Eng- 
lish women  loved  to  occupy  their  time  with 
embroidering  cutwork.  In  several  of  the 
century-darkened  portraits  of  our  ancestors 
that  have  descended  to  us,  especially  of  the 
Virginian  settlers,  the  broad  collars  appear 
to  have  cutwork  borders. 

Cypress.  Also  Cyprus,  cipre,  sipers,  sy- 
press,  syphus.  Originally  a  rich  stuff,  cloth  of 
gold  and  silk,  the  name  came  to  be  applied 
only  to  a  thin  mourning  silk  which  was  used 
like  crape,  and  was  in  substance  much  like 
crape.  Phillips  in  1678  said  cypress  was  "  a 
fine  curled  stuff  part  Silk  part  Hair,  of  a  Cob- 
96 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


web  thinness,  of  which  hoods  for  Women  are 
made. ' '  It  was  named  in  a  New  England 
will  as  early  as  1695 — '*half  a  piece  of 
sipers.  *  *  It  was  always  black.  Autolycus  in 
The  Winter' s  Tale  says, 

Lawne  as  white  as  driven  snow, 
Cyprus  black  as  ere  was  crow. 

*'  Silk  Crape,  Widow's  Crape,  Cyprus  and 
Hat  Crape  ' '  were  advertised  in  the  Boston 
Evening  Post  of    1755,   and  until  Federal 

days. 

Damask.  A  rich  fabric  woven  in  elabo- 
rate patterns  in  silk,  silk  and  wool,  or  Hnen  ; 
and  when  in  silk,  frequently  of  various  col- 
ors. In  1698  a  piece  of  damask  was  said  to 
be  worth  J[^2  10s.  This  may  have  been  a 
fabric  of  linen  or  of  silk.  We  read  of 
**  India  Flower' d  Damask  and  Venetian 
Flower' d  Damask,"  which  were  surely  silk. 
Negro  women  ran  off  in  green  flowered 
damask  gowns  and  red  damask  petticoats, 
which  were  probably  woollen  damask.  By 
Revolutionary  times,  in  the  Connecticut 
Courant^Q  read  of  ^*  silk  and  cotton  Damas- 
cusses ' '  which  were  evidently  also  damask, 
97 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


and  of  ' '  Damascuss  for  Waistcoats. ' '  Many 
of  the  rich  garments  of  the  times  were  of 
damask,  and  the  materials  of  our  own  day 
are  not  superior  either  in  design  or  color  to 
these  colonial  fabrics.  The  gorgeous  gowns 
of  Peter  Faneuil's  sister,  which  are  preserved 
in  cases  and  exhibited  at  the  Boston  Art 
Museum,  are  good  examples. 

Dauphiness.  This  was  the  name  of  a 
certain  style  of  mantle.  Harriott  Paine  had 
* '  Dauphiness  Mantles  ' '  for  sale  in  Boston  in 
1755- 

Demicastor.     See  Hat. 

Desoy.  The  full  name  of  this  material 
was  sergedesoy,  or  sergedusoy, — a  coarse 
silken  stuff,  as  the  name  plainly  indicates. 
It  was  in  frequent  use  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  especially  for  men's  coats  and 
waistcoats. 

Dimity.     This  ribbed  cotton  stuff  is  said 
to  have  been  made  first  at  Damietta.     It 
was  mentioned  by  the  Apostle  John  Eliot  as 
98 


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early  as  165 1,  on  the  list  of  goods  ordered 
from  England.  ' '  White  Dimity, "  * '  Corded 
Dimothy,"  "  Flowered  dymmitty,"  appear 
at  later  dates  in  colonial  papers.  In  fact, 
the  material  has  been  used  until  the  present 
day. 

DoRNEX.  A  heavy,  coarse  linen,  much 
like  canvas,  originally  made  at  Dorneck  or 
Tournay.  It  appears  on  lists  under  various 
speUings  :  dornix,  tornix,  darnex,  darnick, 
dorneck,  dornickes.  In  1658  Simon  Eire, 
of  Boston,  had  a  bed  with  ''  curtaince  and 
valence  of  Dornix."  In  1652  Thomas 
Olliver  had  a  "  dornix  carpitt."  It  was 
too  coarse  and  stiff  for  wear  for  gentlefolk, 
but  servants  had  garments  made  of  it.  I 
read  of  *' darnex  petticoats,"  ''dornix 
breeches,"  and  frequently  of  "  dornex  jack- 
ets," on  negro  house-servants. 

Doublet.  A  name  apparently  given  be- 
cause the  garment  was  at  first  of  double 
material,  wadded  between.  It  was  fre- 
quently belted  and  made  without  sleeves, 
and  was  originally  used  as  an  outer  garment 

99 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


worn  over  a  waistcoat,  and  worn  with  long 
hose.  In  the  "  apparell  for  one  hundred 
men  "  furnished  in  1628  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Company,  were  ''  200  sutes 
of  Norden  dussens  or  hampsheere  kersies 
lyned  the  hose  with  skins,  the  dublet  with 
lynen  of  gilford  or  gedlyman  kerseys  2s.  lod. 
to  3J-.  a  yard,  4^  yards  to  asute."  Hence 
it  is  evident  that  doublet  and  hose  formed  a 
suit.  Richard  Sawyer,  of  Hartford  had,  in 
1648,  ''bucks-leather,  calfs-leather and  liver- 
colour'd  and  musck-coulour'd  cloth  doub- 
litts."  Zerubbabel  Endicott,  of  Salem,  left 
by  will  in  1683  a  ''black  coat  with  Doublet 
and  Hose. ' '  In  the  Southern  colonies  doub- 
lets were  much  more  the  mode  than  in  New 
England,  and  of  richer  material — "  satten 
doubletts  with  silver  buttons"  and  velvet 
doublets. 

Doublets  were  also  worn  by  women. 
Stubbs  says,  "  Though  this  be  a  kind  of 
attire  proper  only  to  a  man,  yet  they  blush 
not  to  wear  it. ' '  Pepys,  in  1666,  sharply  crit- 
icises English  women  for  wearing  doublets. 
Witch  Anne  Hibbins,  of  Boston,  had  a  black 
satin  one  worth  ten  shillings.  I  do  not 
100 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


find  doublets  named  in  inventories  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  except  in  one  or  two 
cases.  Major  John  Pyncheon,  an  old  Spring- 
field gentleman  who  died  in  1703,  left  be- 
hind him  "a  Light  coulour'd  Diiblet  with 
gold  twist,  and  sad  coulour'd  BritC5ie5.o\  •  ^  ' 


Dowlas.  A  heavy  linen  largely  inisport^id 
from  earliest  times  —  the  <*  dowlas,  nithy 
dowlas  "  of  Falstaff's  day.  It  was  made  in 
Brittany.  Governor  Barefoot,  of  New 
Hampshire,  sent  in  1688  for  *^  as  many  yards 
of  Doulas  as  will  make  a  dozen  shirts." 
John  Wynter  imported  in  1638  ''  6  Doz 
Dowlys  Shurtes  at  4s.  4^.  one  with  the 
other."  The  name  appears  in  occasional 
use  until  this  century,  usually  appHed  to  the 
material  of  shirts  or  summer  breeches. 

Drawboys.  In  the  Boston  Gazette  of 
^^y>  1 7 50 J  we  read  of  ''  Fine  Figured 
Drawboys  for  Womens  Coats  with  Fringe." 

Drawers.  Cotgrave  says  that  coarse 
stockings  made  to  draw  on  over  other  hose 
were  called  drawers.  Leathern  drawers 
were  supplied  to  each  Boston  emigrant,  and 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


were,  I  think,  draw-strings  for  the  knee- 
bands  of  breeches.  I  find  the  word  seldom 
used  in  New  England  in  its  present  signifi- 
cation in  the  seventeenth  century.  In  New 
York,  gentlemen  had  silk  and  calico  drawers, 
wliic^i  we'-e  probably  summer  breeches. 

^Di^UGGET..  A  fabric  of  wool  worth 
twelve  shiUings  a  yard  in  17 13,  and  much 
used  for  heavy  petticoats  and  coats. 

DuCAPE.  This  was  a  heavy  silk  of  plain 
color  corded  somewhat  like  our  modern  Ot- 
toman silk.  As  early  as  1675  Hull  ordered 
to  be  brought  on  the  Seaflower  * '  Black  Du- 
cape  &  Lustrings."  It  was  advertised  by 
milliners  and  merchants  for  many  years,  fre- 
quently under  the  name  Due  Cape.  To 
show  its  wearing  powers  (or  the  painstaking 
care  of  our  grandmothers),  let  me  give  the 
experience  of  Elizabeth  Porter,  whose  wed- 
ding gown  in  1770  was  brown  ducape. 
Eighteen  years  later  this  ducape  gown  was 
made  over,  and  forty  years  from  the  wed- 
ding-day it  was  still  in  existence  and  sound 
enough  to  be  again  refashioned. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Duffels.  ''Duffle"  was  woollen  stuff 
originally  made  in  Duffel,  a  town  in  Flan- 
ders. It  was  excluded  from  England  for  a 
time,  to  favor  home  manufactures.  It  had 
a  thick  tufted  or  knotted  nap.  De  Foe  said 
this  stuff  was  made  at  Whitney,  England, 
purposely  for  winter  wear  in  America.  Cer- 
tainly "coats  of  duffels"  are  constantly 
mentioned.  The  match-coats  sold  to  the 
Indians  were  made  of  it,  and  it  supplanted 
fur  garments  and  in  time  affected  the  fur 
trade.  In  the  Colonial  Documents  of  New 
York  I  read,  *'  Duffel  cannot  be  called  cloth, 
it  is  worse  than  a  sorte  called  wadmoll,  and 
not  ever  worne  by  any  Christians,  only  by 
the  Indians." 

We  find  Hull  ordering  ''  Dutch  Duffals 
white,  blue  and  striped  "  in  1672,  and  Sew- 
all  ''good  steel  blew  duffal  "  a  few  years 
later.  Wait  Winthrop  writes  to  his  brother 
in  1675,  "The  Duffels  is  none  of  the  best 
but  tis  cheape  at  4  shilling  a  yard ;  the  best 
is  5^-.  dd.  or  six  shilling."  William  Byrd, 
of  Virginia,  writing  in  1683  said,  "The 
Duffields  is  the  worst  I  ever  saw  . 
Coler  too  light,  a  Darker  blue  pleases  bet- 
103 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


ter."  Duffels  formed  so  large  a  part  of  a 
trader's  stock  that  the  name  finally  became 
a  general  term  applied  to  the  entire  outfit  of 
a  sportsman  or  camper. 

DuRANT.  A  close-grained  woollen  stuff, 
so  named  from  its  strength  and  wearing 
qualities.  Among  many  advertisements  of 
it  I  will  note  but  one — in  the  Connecticut 
Courant  of  April  22,  1776. 

DussENS.  Sometimes  spelled  dozens. 
The  Bay  planters  were  furnished  ''100  sutes 
ofNorden  dussens  or  Hampshire  kersies." 
Dussens  was  a  kersey,  q.  v. 

Ear-rings.  The  earliest  portraits  of  co- 
lonial women  display  no  ear-rings.  The 
widow  of  Colonel  Livingstone  of  New  Lon- 
don had  a  *'pair  of  stoned  ear-rings"  in 
1735.  ^^  ^^  Boston  Evening  Post  of  June 
1755  we  read  of  **  Undressed  Ear-rings, 
Stone,  French-Pearl  &  Crincled  Ear-rings, 
French  Rose  Ear-rings  and  Cristiall  Ear- 
rings"— so  they  evidently  had  become  at 
that  date  wholly  the  mode.  In  1771  J. 
104 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Coolidge,  Jr.,  had  still  further  styles — 
"  Paste,  enamelled,  pearl,  garnet,  mock  gar- 
net and  black  ear-rings. ' '  In  the  Connecticut 
Courant  oi  Msiy ,  1775,  we  read  this  notice: 
''For  the  Ladies:  Pierc'd  &  Plain  stone 
ear-rings  set  in  gold  &  silver ;  jointed  gold 
wires  for  the  ears."  Bernard  Gratz  had  for 
sale  in  Philadelphia  in  1760:  "Fancy 
cluster  ear-rings ;  French  pearl,  circled  and 
points ;  plain  open  ear-rings ;  Garnet  night 


Egret.  Sometimes  spelt  aigret.  A  tuft 
of  feathers  worn  by  women  for  a  head  orna- 
ment. We  read  of  bugle,  silk,  and  silver 
egrets,  and  fly  caps  with  egrets,  in  the  Boston 
Evening  Post  of  November,  1755,  and  for 
thirty  years  later,  as  long  as  military  fashions 
prevailed. 

Elamod.     See  Alamode. 

Ellapine.     See  Allapine. 

Equipage.     An  ornamental  case  for  wom- 
en's wear  to  hold  scissors,  knife,  thimble, 
105 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


pencil,  tooth-pick  case,  tweezers,  ''ear- 
pick,"  bodkin,  nail-cleaner,  etc.  In  the 
time  of  George  I.  an  equipage  was  worn 
hooked  to  the  left  side.  At  a  later  date  it 
was  hung  by  a  stay  hook  on  the  upper  edge 
of  the  bodice.  I  find  *'  Silver  Equipages" 
advertised  in  the  Boston  News  Letter  of 
April  28,  1768,  and  steel  equipages  also. 
See  Etui. 

Erminetta.  a  thin  stuff  for  summer 
wear.  In  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of  1 7  5 1 
we  read,  ''Genteel  Linen  and  Cotton  Er- 
minettas. ' '  Runaway  negresses  were  adver- 
tised as  wearing  off  erminetta  gowns. 

Ermozen.     See  Armozine. 

EsTAMiNE.     See  Taminy. 

Etui.  This  was  a  name  synonymous  with 
equipage.  In  the  Salem  Gazette ^  in  1784, 
were  named,  "  Ladies  Neat  House  wifs  and 
Etwees. ' '  Isaiah  Thomas,  in  his  Book  Cat- 
alogue of  about  the  same  date  advertised 
"Ladies  Elegant  Red  Morocco  Huswives 
106 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


and  Etwees  with  Silver  Locks  and  Some 
Silver  mounted.  Red  Morocco  Pocket  books 
with  Etwees."  I  have  never  found  it 
spelled  etui  until  modern  times,  but  fre- 
quently estuy,  ettwee,  etuy,  etc.  See  Equi- 
page. 

Falling  Band. 

The  eighth  Henry  (as  I  understand) 
Was  the  first  king  that  ever  wore  a  Band 
And  but  a  FalUng-Band,  plaine  with  a  hem 
All  other  people  knew  no  use  of  them. 

Thus  wrote  old  John  Taylor  in  his 
Praise  of  Clean  Linnen. 

The  broad,  plain  linen  collar,  turned 
down  over  the  neck  of  the  doublet  or  jerkin, 
was  the  common  form  of  the  falling-band. 
It  is  familiar  to  us  through  early  portraits. 
It  sometimes  consisted  of  several  pieces,  or 
collars,  one  falling  over  the  other.  It  was 
frequently  called  simply  a  fall.  Both  names 
appear  in  a  majority  of  the  early  colonial 
inventories.  The  "  three  Yards  ffine  Lace 
for  ffrills  and  ffals"  which  Governor  Berke- 
ley, of  Virginia,  ordered  in  1660,  and  which 
were  worth  j[^2  Zs. ,  may  have  been  intended 
107 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


for  falls,  or  for  fallals,  which  latter  were 
ornamental  knots  of  lace  and  ribbon  worn 
in  England  that  I  have  never  seen  specially 
named  elsewhere  in  American  inventories  or 
lists.     See  Band. 

Fan.  The  first  newspaper  advertisement 
in  New  England  relating  to  fans  was  in  the 
Boston  News  Letter  of  April,  17 14.  On 
July  1 8th,  1728,  this  notice  appeared  : 

George  Harding  lately  from  London,  now  at  Mr. 
John  Potters,  Confectioners,  Mounteth  all  sorts  of 
Fans  as  well  as  any  Done  in  old  England.  He  like- 
wise hath  a  large  Sortment  of  Curious  Mounts  which 
he  will  dispose  of  very  Reasonably,  not  purposing  to 
stay  long  in  These  Parts. 

By  1732  other  fan  mounters  had  come  to 
town,  and  set  up  business  on  Beacon  street, 
near  the  Common. 

The  Person  that  mounts  Fans  having  a  Parcel 
Just  arriv'd.  All  Gentlewomen  that  Desire  to  be 
Supply'd  may  have  them.  She  intending  to  Mount 
no  more  desires  they  would  be  speedy  in  Coming. 

Perhaps  a  few  wealthy  Boston  dames  may 
have  owned  fans  from  earliest  Colonial  days. 
Abigail  Kellond  paid  £^^  for  one  in  Boston, 
in  1686  ;  but  certainly  fans  were  not  com- 
ics 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


monly  used  until  toward  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Feather  fans  with  gold 
handles  had  been  too  purely  court  luxuries  to 
be  plentiful  in  the  new  land,  though  the 
"2  Feather  Skreens "  in  Madam  Usher's 
wardrobe  in  1725  were  doubtless  hand 
screens  or  fans.  In  1736  '*  Women's  &  Chil- 
dren's Ivory,  Cocoa  &  Bone  Stick' t  Fans  " 
were  advertised,  and  "Fine  Paper  Fans," 
and  "Rich  Fans  of  Leather  &  Paper 
Mounts." 

The  London  Magazine  of  1744  speaks  of 
fans  at  that  date  as  wonderfully  increased  in 
size,  "  from  three  quarters  of  a  foot  to  a  foot 
and  three  quarters  or  two  feet;  "  and  I  pre- 
sume the  fashion  spread  to  America.  In 
1750  women's  and  children's  mourning  and 
half  mourning  and  church  fans  were  offered 
for  sale,  thus  showing  a  fine  and  discriminat- 
ing regard  for  fashion.  "  Paddlestick  cut 
silver  mount  fans"  appeared  in  1764,  and 
"  Marlborough  &  other  fashionable  fans." 
Occasionally  a  portrait  of  this  date  is  shown 
of  a  fan-bearing  dame,  and  a  few  of  such 
fans  have  been  preserved  to  us,  looking  more 
of  the  French  taste  than  of  the  English. 
109 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Farrandine.     See  Ferrandine. 

Fearnaught.  a  thick  cloth  with  a  long 
pile,  also  called  dreadnaught  and  fear- 
nothing.  In  the  Virginia  Gazette  in  1752 
and  1753  we  frequently  read  of  runaway 
slaves  wearing  fearnothing  jackets. 

Ferrandine.  Also  farrandine  and  faren- 
don.  A  cloth  partly  of  silk,  partly  of  wool 
or  hair,  much  like  what  we  now  call  poplin. 
It  was  frequently  named  by  Pepys  and  was 
much  worn  at  that  time,  and  was  used  speci- 
ally for  waistcoats.  The  name  appears  in 
New  York  and  New  England  lists  of  cloth- 
ing. 

Ferret.  Originally  a  narrow  worsted 
ribbon  or  tape  used  for  bindings.  The 
word  ferret  or  ferriting  was  at  a  later  date 
applied  to  any  narrow  tape,  such  as  shoe 
lacing.  In  the  Boston  News  Letter  of  1762 
*'  Cotton  and  Silk  Ferrit  Laces,  also  Black 
and  Colour'd  Silk  Ferrits  "  were  advertised. 
The  word  will  occasionally  be  seen  on  tape- 
boxes  in  old  shops  nowadays. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


FiLEMOT.  A  corruption  of  feuille-morte 
— of  the  color  of  a  dead  leaf. 

Foot-Mantle.     See  Safeguard. 

Frieze.  A  coarse  woollen  stuff  worn  by 
poor  folk,  and  used  since  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. I  have  seen  the  word  but  rarely  in 
colonial  inventories.  The  New  Hampshire 
settlers  had  "  ffrise  "  garments. 

Frog.  An  ornamental  cloak,  coat,  or  hat 
button.  Frogs  are  seen  on  few  of  the  early 
portraits.  Governor  Belcher  wears  a  coat 
trimmed  with  them  in  his  portrait.  Major 
John  Pyncheon  had,  in  1703,  a  'Might 
coulour'd  cape-coat  with  Frogs  on  it."  In 
the  JVew  England  Weekly  Journal  of  1736 
"New  Fashion' d  Frogs"  are  named;  and 
later,  ' '  Spangled  Scalloped  &  Brocaded 
Frogs. ' '  Frogs  also  appeared  on  the  list  of 
hat  trimmings. 

Frosts.  Judge  Sewall  wrote  on  Jan.  19, 
1 7 1 7  :  "  Great  Rain  and  very  Slippery ; 
was  fain  to  wear  Frosts. ' '     These  frosts  were 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


perhaps  what  have  been  called  on  horses 
*  *  frost  nails, ' '  or  calks,  and  at  a  later  date, 
for  men's  wear,  calks.  They  were  simply 
spiked  soles  to  help  the  wearer  to  walk  on  ice. 
A  pair  may  be  seen  at  the  Deerfield  Memorial 
Hall. 

Furbelows.  In  the  Pleasant  Art  of 
Money- Catching  (1730)  a  furbelowed  scarf 
is  said  **  not  to  be  purchased  under  as  much 
.  money  as  heretofore  would  have  bought  a 
good  citizen's  wife  a  new  gown  and  petti- 
coat. But  these  furbelows  are  not  confin'd  to 
scarfs,  but  they  must  have  furbelow' d  gowns 
and  furbelow'd  petticoats,  and,  as  I  have 
heard,  furbelow'd  smocks  too." 

Furbelows  were  invented  by  a  Frenchman 
named  Langlee,  the  son  of  a  waiting-maid  of 
Madame  de  Maintenon,  and  were  simply 
rows  of  quilled  flounces,  and  subsequently 
gathered  flounces  looped  in  clusters  of  plaits. 
They  were  called  in  France  falbalas.  Furbe- 
lowed gowns  and  petticoats  and  scarfs  our 
foremothers  had  in  America,  and  perhaps  the 
other  garment  also.  Furbelowed  collars  we 
read   of.      The  *' Furbelow'd   Gold  Gauze 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Scarf"  of  Richard  Hall's  wife  (that  he  sold 
in  Boston  after  her  death  at  the  Barbadoes) 
must  have  been  beautiful,  indeed.  I  have 
seen  no  notice  of  the  Enghsh  ' '  rump  furbe- 
lows," nor  of  the  brooches  placed  in  these 
furbelows  and  called  "rump  jewels"  or 
rumphlets;  but  I  doubt  not  that  wealthy 
New  England  dames  were  thus  bedizened. 

Fustian.  A  stout  twilled  cotton  stuff 
worth,  in  1640,  a  shilling  a  yard,  and  much 
used  for  jackets  and  petticoats. 

Garters.  To  the  planters  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Colony  were  furnished  "10 
dussen  peare  of  Norwich  garters,  about  5^-.  a 
dussen  pr. "  At  an  early  date  in  the  affairs 
of  the  colony,  silk  garters  were  prohibited 
as  an  extravagant  vanity.  Susannah  Oxen- 
bridge,  the  widow  of  the  rich  Boston  minis- 
ter, specified  and  bequeathed  in  her  will  in 
1695,  "  My  best  Silke  Stockins  &  Garters." 
In  the  Boston  Independent  Advertiser  of  1748 
"Gartrings"  appear,  and  in  1769,  in  the 
Boston  Evening  Post,  were  named  "  Cord 
Chain  Thread  &  Knee  Garters,"  and  also 
113 


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"  London  Turkey  &  Scotch  Gartrings,"  and 
"  Lettered  Garters."  So  it  is  evident  that 
garters  were  quite  an  important  addition  to 
dress,  and  possibly  an  expensive  one  too. 
In  the  list  of  household  goods  and  clothing 
which  the  Governor  of  Arcadia  asserted  that 
*'Mr.  Phips,"  the  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, had  stolen  from  him,  or  deprived  him 
of,  were  four  pair  of  silken  garters;  with 
which  borrowed  finery  possibly  Governor 
Phips  cut  a  fine  figure.  Judge  Sewall  had  a 
rare  pair  of  garters  given  to  him  in  1688 — 
"  a  pair  of  Jerusalem  Garters  which  cost 
above  2  pieces  8  (Spanish  dollars)  in  Al- 
geria. ' '  Snakeskin  garters  were  worn  to  ward 
off  ^-ramp  in  the  leg. 

GiNGERLiNE.  Among  the  stuffs  supplied 
to  the  Indians  we  find  gingerline.  The 
traders  paid  one  yard  and  a  half  of  gingerline 
for  a  bearskin,  so  doubtless  many  a  brave 
wore  gay  gingerline  breeches,  and  many  a 
squaw  a  gingerline  jacket.  In  the  Duke 
of  Newcasde's  comedy.  The  Triu7npha7it 
Widow,  1677,  one  character  wears  a  **  gin- 
gerline cloth  cloke  with  olive  plush  cape." 
X14 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


The    word     occurs     in    the    Massachusetts 
Archives  as  late  as  1703. 

Girdle.  Gold  and  silver  girdles  were 
among  the  articles  of  dress  forbidden  by  the 
Massachusetts  General  Court  in  1634.  In 
1628  "  lether  girdles  "  were  assigned  to  each 
male  emigrant.  In  later  days  they  appear 
frequently  in  inventories,  usually  of  buff 
leather.  Susannah  Oxenbridge  had  a  ^ '  large 
Silke  Girdle  "  in  1695.  It  was  not  till  1755 
that  silver  girdles  and  girdle  buckles  were 
advertised  for  sale.  The  Weekly  Rehearsal, 
of  Jan.  10,  1732,  says,  *'in  the  Present 
Custom  no  Girdle  terminates  the  Wast,"  and 
seems  to  regard  the  absence  of  that  confining 
adornment  as  very  indiscreet  and  almost  im- 
moral. In  New  York  the  girdle  was  univer- 
sally worn  by  women  of  Dutch  descent  or 
birth.  It  was  usually  a  rich  ornament,  being 
made  of  silver — sometimes  of  gold — and  to 
it  were  hung  the  housewife's  bunch  of  keys, 
her  silver-clasped  Bible,  and  frequently  an 
**  equipage." 

Gloves.  Nearly  all  the  portraits  of  the 
settlers, — Puritans,  Cavaliers,  and  Quakers — 

"5 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


display  gloves.  Governors  Endicott  and 
Rawson  wear  rich  gloves  with  deep  embroid- 
ered cuffs  or  gauntlets.  Zerubbabel  Endicott 
left  fringed  gloves  by  will  in  1683.  They 
were  imported  in  large  numbers  even  in  early 
days,  and  were  of  various  materials;  *'cor- 
devant,  buckskin,  shammy,  sattin,  Irish  lamb 
and  glazed  lambs-wool."  Silver  and  gold 
fringed  gloves  also  were  worn,  and  "  Pom- 
pedore"  gloves.  In  1628  gloves  were  fur- 
nished to  the  planters.  One  hundred  men 
had  "16  dussen  of  gloves  of  which  12  dussen 
of  calfs  leather,  2  dussen  of  sheeps  leather,  2 
dussen  Kyd."  Gloves  for  women  and  chil- 
dren appear  in  all  lists  of  wares  in  the  news- 
papers. One  great  expense  of  a  funeral  was 
the  gloves.  In  some  communities  these 
were  sent  as  an  approved  and  elegant  form 
of  invitation  to  relatives  and  friends  and  dig- 
nitaries, whose  presence  was  desired.  In 
the  case  of  a  funeral  of  any  person  promi- 
nent in  state,  church,  or  society,  vast  num- 
bers of  gloves  were  disbursed;  ''none  of 
'em  of  any  figure  but  what  had  gloves  sent 
to  'em."  At  the  funeral  of  the  wife  of 
Governor  Belcher,  in  1736,  over  one  thou- 
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sand  pairs  of  gloves  were  given  away ;  at 
the  funeral  of  Andrew  Faneuil  three  thou- 
sand pairs ;  the  number  frequently  ran  up  to 
several  hundred,  as  at  the  funerals  of  some 
of  the  New  York  patroons.  Different  quali- 
ties of  gloves  were  presented  at  the  same 
funeral  to  persons  of  different  social  circles, 
or  of  varied  degrees  of  consanguinity  or 
acquaintance.  Frequently  the  orders  for 
these  vales  were  given  in  wills.  As  early 
as  1633  Samuel  Fuller,  of  Plymouth,  di- 
rected in  his  will  that  his  sister  was  to  have 
gloves  worth  twelve  shillings ;  Governor 
Winthrop  and  his  children  each  ''a  paire 
of  gloves  of  five  shillings ;  ' '  while  plebeian 
Rebecca  Prime  had  to  be  contented  with  a 
cheap  pair  worth  two  shillings  sixpence. 

The  under-bearers  who  carried  the  coffin 
were  usually  given  different  and  cheaper 
gloves  than  were  the  pall-bearers.  We  find 
seven  pairs  of  gloves  given  at  a  pauper's 
funeral.  Of  course  the  minister,  clergyman, 
or  dominie  always  was  given  gloves ;  they 
were  showered  on  him  at  weddings,  christen- 
ings, funerals. 

Various  kinds  of  gloves  are  specified  as 
117 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


suitable  for  mourning;  for  instance,  in  the 
Boston  Independent  Advertiser  in  1749,  and 
in  New  York  newspapers  of  the  same  date, 
''  Black  Shammy  Gloves  and  White  Glazed 
Lambs  Wool  Gloves  suitable  for  Funerals." 
White  gloves  were  as  often  given  as  black, 
and  purple  gloves  also.  Good  specimens 
of  old  mourning  gloves  have  been  preserved 
in  the  cabinets  of  the  Worcester  Society  of 
Antiquity. 

By  Liberty  Days,  in  1769,  even  mourning 
gloves  showed  the  influences  of  the  times,  and 
were  made  in  America  of  American  materials, 
and  it  was  proposed  that  they  be  stamped 
with  a  suggestive  design  such  as  the  Liberty 
Tree. 

Glove  Tightens.  The  long  gloves  worn 
by  women  were  held  up  at  the  elbows  by 
various  devices.  Glove-tightens  made  of 
plaited  horse-hair  were  a  favorite  method. 
Glove  strings  were  of  enough  importance  and 
value  for  the  sister  of  wealthy  Peter  Faneuil 
to  send  her  discarded  ones  to  London  to  be 
sold.  Roses  and  ties  of  narrow  ribbon  were 
also  worn  at  glove-tops.  **  Elastick  glove- 
118 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


tops  "  were  advertised  in  the  Salem  Gazette 
of  July  29,  1789.  These  glove  fasteners 
were  also  called  glove-bands,  and  in  the 
Charleston  Gazette  (S.  C.)  of  July  9,  1760, 
we  read  of  hair  glove-tops,  probably  made 
of  braided  horse-hair. 

GoLBERTAiNE.     See  Lace. 

Golosh.  A  ''galage"  was  a  shoe 
**  which  has  nothing  on  the  feet  but  a 
latchet."  A  golosh  was  a  shoe  with  soles  of 
wood  or  leather,  with  straps  to  keep  it  on 
the  foot.  It  was  worn  over  an  ordinary  shoe 
or  slipper  in  bad  weather.  They  were  used 
at  an  early  date,  for  in  February,  1687, 
Judge  Sewall  notes :  '^  Sent  my  mothers 
Shoes  &  Golowshoes  to  carry  to  her."  In 
1736  Peter  Faneuil  sent  to  England  for 
^ '  Galoushoes  ' '  for  his  sister.  I  find  them 
advertised  in  the  New  England  Weekly 
Journal  in  1739,  ^^^  i^oia  that  date  in  vary- 
ing intervals  in  various  papers,  till  1776. 
The  popular  spelling  was  ''golo-shoe"  pro- 
nounced as  written,  not  in  a  single  word, 
golosh.  Occasionally  it  was  written  '^  golos- 
sians."  See  Clogs  and  Pattens. 
119 


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Gorget.  An  ornamental  neckband 
which  was  very  full  and  broad  in  front.  The 
word  is  found  but  seldom  in  colonial  records, 
and  only  in  Maryland  and  Virginia.  In 
1642,  one  wealthy  Maryland  planter  left  be- 
hind him  at  his  death  a  large  number  of 
laced  gorgets. 

Grain.  A  color — scarlet.  The  word  is 
so  used  by  Shakespeare,  Spenser,  and  Milton. 
It  was  derived  from  the  grain-like  insects  of 
the  cochineal.  I  read  in  New  England  in- 
ventories of  waistcoats  of  grain. 

Grazzets.  a  dress-stuff  appearing  in 
lists  in  the  News  Letter  from  171 2  to  1768, 
often  specified  as  '*  changeable  grazzets." 

Gridelin.  Also  gresdelin,  gredolin, 
grisetin.  From  the  French  gris  de  lin — flax- 
gray.  A  gray-violet  color  which  was  fash- 
ionable in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Grogram.  Govenor  Winthrop  wrote  thus: 
"  I  purpose  to  send  by  the  bearer  a  piece  of 
Turkey  Grogram,  about  ten  yards,  to  make 
you  a  suit."     It  was  a  stiffened  stuff  of  silk 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


and  wool,  much  like  heavy  mohair,  and  had, 
it  is  said,  a  diagonal  weave.  Captain  Clay- 
borne  of  Palmer's  Island,  Maryland,  had  a 
"  stitcht  Grogram  doublett  "  in  1638.  We 
read  until  Revolutionary  times  of  grogram 
waistcoats  and  cloaks,  and  sometimes  of  gar- 
ments of  silk  grograham.  We  find  Governor 
Belcher  writing  to  his  London  tailor,  in  1733, 
about  a  "  yellow  grogram  suit  work't  strong 
as  well  as  neat  and  curious. ' ' 

Hair- Clasps.  These  ornaments  for  the 
hair — clasps  to  hold  up  the  braided  back 
hair — were  advertised  for  sale  in  the  New 
York  newspapers  and  in  the  Connecticut 
Courant  of  January,  1791,  and  were  worn 
until  a  simpler  form  of  hair-dressing  appeared 
about  the  year  1800.  They  were  usually 
rather  a  cheap  ornament,  set  with  paste  jew- 
els, as  was  the  fashion  of  the  day,  with  mar- 
casite,  garnet,  pearl  and  mocho  stones;  or 
made  of  silver-gilt.  I  have  also  seen  them  of 
cut-steel,  now  tarnished  and  rusty  with  years. 

Hair-Lace.  A  fillet  or  ribbon  for  tying 
up  the  hair.     Universally  worn  by  women 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


of  all  ranks  and  stations  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Hair-Peg.     See  Bodkin. 

Hair-pin.  In  November,  1755,  I  find 
the  first  notice  of  hair-pins  for  sale — at  Har- 
riot Paine's  in  Boston.  She  was  a  great 
importer  of  novelties  to  fair  Bostonians. 
Previously  to  that  time  New  England  dames 
may  have  skewered  the  hair,  for  aught  I 
know.  Indeed,  as  she  advertised  **  Double 
&  Single  Hairpins"  in  June,  1775,  the 
single  hair-pins  may  have  been  simply  a  long 
skewer  of  strong  wire.  Hairbins  and  hair- 
bines  and  harepins  and  black  hairpens  appear 
later,  sandwiched  in  among  the  names  of 
woollen  goods,  so  the  articles — or  possibly 
they  may  be  stuffs — thus  designated  were 
doubtless  plentiful  enough.  I  do  not  find 
hair-pins  on  wigmakers'  and  barbers'  lists,  in 
any  colonial  newspapers  ;  and  I  find  some 
indications  that  hairbine  was  the  name  of  a 
woollen  material.     See  Bodkin. 

Haling-Hands.  These  were  heavy  gloves 
or  mittens  of  woolen  stuff  or  felting  (for  we 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


read  complaints  of  their  being  moth-eaten), 
and  were  frequently  sent  to  the  colonists  at 
Richmond  Island,  Maine,  for  use  on  the 
fishing  vessels.  The  evident  signification  of 
the  word  points  to  their  being  used  as  hand 
coverings  for  sailors  and  workmen  while 
hauling  cables  or  doing  other  heavy  work ; 
and  they  are  still  sold  and  thus  used.  They 
were  frequently  lined  in  the  palms  with 
leather  or  heavy  cloth.  We  read  of  a  Maine 
workman,  in  1639,  buying  ''six  paire  hahng- 
hands  &  i  yard  3-4  Cape  Cloth  to  lyne 
them  &  to  make  myttinges. ' '  Another  fish- 
erman bought  ' '  list  to  lyn  halings. ' '  These 
haling-hands  sold  for  about  sixpence  a  pair. 

Handkerchief.  In  the  inventory  of  the 
goods  supplied  to  the  one  hundred  planters 
of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  1628,  were  items  of 
*' 200  hankerchers "  and  "ells  of  sheer 
lynnen  for  hankerchers."  At  that  time 
they  were  also  called  muckinders  in  England. 
In  the  early  wills '' handkerchiefes  "  were 
mentioned  among  articles  of  importance, 
and  they  were  doubtless  handsome  and  of 
rich  materials,  such  as  the  handkerchief  that 
123 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Richard  Hull  sent  from  Barbadoes  to  be  sold 
in  Boston,  "  one  silke  Handkerchief  with 
Gold  Edging."  They  were  not  all  of  silk 
or  Hnen,  the  "handkerchiefs  that  India's 
shuttle  boast ' '  came  quickly  into  the  market 
with  the  increased  Oriental  trade.  As  early 
as  1737  good  patriotic  Peter  Faneuil  smug- 
gled into  port  62  dozen  Romall  handker- 
chiefs at  ;^7  a  dozen;  and  in  1755  *'Le- 
mone  Handkerchiefs  ' '  were  advertised  in  the 
Boston  Gazette.  These  were  of  the  India 
cotton  material  lemmanee.  In  the  same 
paper  at  the  same  time  were  "  Scotch  and 
Paistwork  Handkerchiefs."  ''Birdsey'd" 
and  ' '  Sarsnet ' '  are  the  next  names  of  the 
stuffs  of  which  handkerchiefs  were  made,  and 
November  18,  1767,  one  Boston  shopkeeper 
had  ''  linen  check' d  spotted  flower'd  stamp' d 
&  border' d  Cambrick  ;  Barcelona,  Pullicat, 
Lungee,  Bandanoe,  China,  Culgee,  Negligee, 
Rosett  &  Sattinet  Handkerchiefs  ' '  which — ■ 
with  the  Bandanoet  and  Bilboa  handker- 
chiefs of  Jolley  Allen's  shop  form  a  list  we 
could  hardly  equal  in  modern  times.  And 
these  were  not  all;  in  the  same  year  in 
the  Connecticut  Courant  a  lost  box  was  ad- 
124 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


vertised.  It  contained  '*  One  plain  gauze 
handkerchief  lac'd,  spotted  gauze  hand- 
kerchief lac'd  with  a  plain  blond  lace, 
two  plain  gauze  handkerchiefs."  These 
latter  and  the  ''black  gauze  yard  wide 
Handkerchiefs  ' '  of  the  same  date  must,  I 
fancy,  have  been  used  as  neckkerchiefs. 
Abigail  Adams,  writing  in  1785,  to  Mrs. 
Storer  said  :  ' '  Abby  has  made  you  a  minia- 
ture handkerchief  just  to  show  you  one  mode ; 
but  caps  hats  and  handkerchiefs  are  as  various 
as  ladies  and  milliners  fancies  can  devise." 
These  handkerchiefs  were  also  ornamental 
neckerchiefs. 

Rebecca  Franks,  writing  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia  in  1778,  also  sent  a  handker- 
chief to  show  the  pattern. 

Hat.  Each  emigrant  was  allowed  by  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  in  1628,  one 
''  black  hatt  lyned  at  the  brow  with  lether." 
This  was  apparently  the  best  head -gear  of 
the  colonists,  perhaps  used  only  for  Sunday 
and  funeral  wear.  In  1634  a  law  was  passed 
in  Massachusetts  against  the  wearing  of 
beaver  hats  save  by  wealthy  men.     It  ap- 

125 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


parently  availed  little,  though  men  were 
prosecuted  under  it,  for  beaver  hats  were 
worn  from  that  day  as  long  as  beaver  hats 
were  made  —  and  nominally  much  longer. 
The  colonists  apparently  believed,  like  the 
author  oi  Merry  Drolleries  in  1661, 

Of  all  the  felts  that  may  be  felt 
Give  me  the  English  beaver. 

Doubtless  the  high  price  of  such  head  cover- 
ings was  the  chief  objection  in  the  mind  of 
the  frugal  magistrates.  Beaver  hats  cost 
from  four  to  six  pounds  apiece  in  England, 
as  we  learn  from  Pepys  and  other  contem- 
porary diarists.  Hence  it  is  no  wonder  that 
when  owned  at  all  in  a  frontier  province,  like 
New  England  or  even  Virginia,  they  were 
valuable  enough  to  be  left  by  bequest  and 
given  as  tokens  of  friendship  and  respect. 
In  1694  black  beaverettes  were  worth  two 
pounds  apiece  in  America,  while  castor  hats 
cost  but  thirty-one  shillings.  A  demi-cas- 
tor  was  worth  £1  6s.  in  Springfield  in  1658. 
In  Maryland  and  Virginia  rich  head-gear 
was  worn ;  hats  with  gold  hat-bands  and 
feathers. 

126 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


In  1650  Robert  Saltonstall  left  a  ''  black 
beavor  hatt"  by  will;  in  1633  Samuel  Ful- 
ler left  his  ''best  Hatt  "  to  his  minister, 
Elder  Brewster.  Hats  were  also  made  of 
cloth.  In  the  tailor's  bill  of  work  done  for 
Jonathan  Corwin,  of  Salem,  in  1679,  we 
read,  "  To  making  a  Broad cloath  Hatt  14s. 
To  making  2  hatts  &  2  jackets  for  your  two 
sonnes  19^-."  In  1672  an  association  of 
Massachusetts  hatters  asked  privileges  and 
protection  from  the  colonial  government,  to 
aid  and  encourage  American  manufacture, 
but  they  were  refused  until  they  made  bet- 
ter hats.  Shortly  after,  however,  the  ex- 
portation of  raccoon  fur  to  England  was  for- 
bidden, or  taxed,  as  it  was  found  to  be 
useful  in  the  home  manufacture  of  hats. 

Castor  hats  were  largely  imported ;  Pep- 
perell  ordered  six  dozen  from  England  in 
one  invoice.  They  appear  on  the  heads  of 
runaways  in  many  an  advertisement.  Cocked 
hats  came  in  vogue  in  New  England  when 
they  did  in  England,  and  varied  widely  in 
shape  as  they  did  in  looping,  sometimes 
being  turned  up  only  in  front  with  a  button, 
at  other  times  having  three  laps.  In  1670 
127 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


hat  brims  were  about  six  inches  wide.  Dr. 
Holyoke  said  that  in  1732  his  father  wore 
one  seven  inches  wide.     In  1742  it  became 

.     .     .     a  fashionable  whim 
To  wear  it  with  a  narrow  brim. 

Cocked  hats  were  richly  trimmed  with 
metal  laces,  cords,  caddis,  ferret,  buttons, 
ribbons,  cockades,  rosettes,  and  were  also 
painted.  In  1738  in  the  Boston  News  Let- 
ter runaways  were  advertised,  one  wearing  a 
*'  hat  painted  of  several  colours  ;  "  another 
a  hat  * '  painted  red. ' '  The  words  colored 
and  painted  appear  to  have  been  used  inter- 
changeably in  the  eighteenth  century  ;  and 
*' colour' d  hats"  are  frequently  named. 
Cocked  hats  were  worn  by  civilians  until 
this  century,  and  by  the  army  also.  During 
the  Revolutionary  War  the  sentence  of  whip- 
ping with  five  lashes  was  imposed  on  any 
soldier  whose  hat  was  found  carelessly  un- 
looped — '^uncockt" — as  it  **  gave  him  a 
hang-dog  look. ' ' 

Puritan  women  also  wore  felt  and  beaver 
and  castor  hats,  and  bequeathed  them  by 
will,  as  did  the  men.  A  letter  written  in 
138 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Dorchester  by  a  lover  to  his  lass,  in  1647, 
tells  of  "  thinking  upon  you  for  a  hat  & 
chose  out  ye  comelyest  fashion  hatt  yt  they 
could  find  avoiding  fantastick  fashions.  Ye 
hatt  was  a  demi-castor  the  priz  was  245-." 

Though  Mary  Harris,  of  New  London, 
named  a  *' straw  hatt  "  in  her  will  in  1655, 
such  mention  is  unusual,  and  would  have 
been  in  England  at  the  same  date.  On  June 
18,  1727,  the  New  England  Weekly  Journal 
advertised  "Women's  Hatts  made  of  fine 
Bermuda  Piatt."  An  affectation  of  country 
innocence  made  straw  hats  fashionable  at 
about  this  time  in  England,  where  they  were 
called  "  Churchills."  In  1732,  a  writer  in 
the  Weekly  Rehearsal^  speaks  thus  of*  High- 
Croun'd  Hats,"  '*  After  being  confin'd  to 
Cots  &  Villages  so  long  a  time,  they  have 
become  the  Mode  of  Quality  &  the  politest 
Distinction  of  a  Fashionable  Undress."  In 
1742,  in  April,  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post ^ 
fine  Leghorn  straw  hats  for  women  were  ad- 
vertised at  sixteen  to  fifty  shillings  apiece, 
and  a  *'  parcel  of  fine  Ruff'd  hats  "  for  ladies. 
In  1737  Boston  milHners  had  **  New  Fash- 
ion'd  Nonpareil'd  feather'd  Hatts  for  ladies," 
129 


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which  miist  have  been  mighty  fine.  In  1751 
Harriot  Paine  had  for  sale  **  Saxon  bUie  silk 
and  Hair  Hatts,  black  horsehair  &  Leghorn 
hatts,"  and  in  1753  *' Black  &  white  & 
Black  Horsehair  Hatts  emboss' d  and  stampt 
Sattin  Hatts."  ''Fine  beverett  hats  with 
tabby  linings, "  ' '  tissue  sattin  &  chipt  hatts, ' ' 
were  also  sold  in  South  Carolina  as  well  as 
the  more  northern  States.  We  gain  a  little 
suggestion  of  contemporary  historical  events 
by  the  names,  ' '  Quebeck  Hats  and  Garrick 
Hats."  We  know  prices  also:  '*  Womens 
chipt  Hats  60s.  O.T.  per  doz."  in  1764, 
and  '^  4s.  6^  apiece  O.T."  in  1767.  In  the 
latter  year  plain-trimmed  and  skeleton  hats 
appear;  on  April  16,  1773,  "Ladies  New- 
est Fashion  White  Beaver  Riding  Hats." 
These  riding  hats  had  previously  been  de- 
nounced as  an  exceeding  affectation  in  a 
*'  riding  equipage." 

The  Sa/em  Gazette  advertised  in  July, 
1784,  "■  Air  Balloon  "  and  *'  Princess  "  hats. 
These  were  French  fashions.  A  large  brimmed 
hat  was  fashionable  for  some  time  at  this  date  ; 
it  had  a  low  soft  silk  or  gauze  crown  and  a 
broad  ribbon  bow  with  long  ends  at  the  back, 
130 


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and  was  trimmed  with  three  ostrich  feathers. 
Emily  and  Marlborough  hats  appeared  in 
1 786.  Another  modish  hat  had  a  brim  with- 
out a  crown.  In  1796  Sally  McKean  (after- 
ward Marquise  d'Yrigo)  wrote  thus,  to  the 
sister  of  Dolly  Madison,  of  the  fashions  of  her 
day  : 

The  hats  are  quite  different  shape  from  what  they 
used  to  be  ;  they  have  no  slope  in  the  crown  ;  scarce 
any  rim,  and  are  turned  up  at  each  side  and  worn 
very  much  on  the  side  of  the  head.  Several  of  them 
are  made  of  chipped  woods  commonly  known  as  cane 
hats  ;  they  are  all  lined.  One  that  has  come  for  Mrs. 
Bingham  is  lined  with  white  and  trimmed  with  broad 
purple  ribbon  put  around  in  large  puffs,  with  a  bow 
on  the  left  side. 

Hive.  In  milliners'  lists  in  Massachusetts 
and  Pennsylvania  the  word  is  seen,  and  it  was 
applied  to  a  straw  head -covering  shaped  like 
a  bee-hive  for  women's  wear.  Shakespeare, 
in  the  Lover' s  Complaint,  wrote ; 

Upon  her  head  a  platted  hive  of  straw 
Which  fortified  her  visage  from  the  sun. 

In  Durfey's   Wit  and  Mit'th,  or  Pills  to 
purge   Melancholy,   he   speaks,  in  a  ballad 
131 


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on  caps,  of  a  *' satin  and  a  velvet  hive  for 
men's  wear."  I  have  also  read  in  American 
newspapers  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  the 
tedious  romances  that  occasionally  may  be 
found  in  their  columns,  of  fine  young  coun- 
try maids  wearing  hives  on  their  heads. 

Hood.  Though  English  prints  of  the 
seventeenth  century  usually  represent  Puritan 
women  in  steeple-crowned,  straight-brimmed, 
untrimmed  woollen  hats,  as  ugly  and  unbe- 
coming as  those  of  their  sober  spouses,  I 
firmly  believe  that  our  Pilgrim  mothers  made 
their  ocean  journey  and  landed  on  Plymouth 
Rock  in  hoods ;  and  hoods  did  their  descend- 
ants constantly  wear  in  spite  of  the  meddle- 
some prohibition  of  silk  and  tiffany  hoods 
by  the  early  magistrates.  Throughout  the 
other  colonies  they  were  also  worn  by  wom- 
en of  every  station.  Through  the  two  cen- 
turies following  came  a  brilliant  inflores- 
cence of  hoods;  though  sometimes  under 
other  names.  In  1666  Ann  Clarke  and  Jane 
Humphrey,  of  Dorchester,  left  hoods  by  will. 
In  1695  Susannah  Oxenbridge  specified  in 
her  will  her  "  Scarlett  colour' d  hoode  &  a 
132 


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black  hoode."  These  hoods  were  not  al- 
wa)^  of  heavy  materials.  In  New  York, 
women  had  ''  love-hoods  "  of  silk  and  gauze 
— a  pretty  name  and  I  am  sure  a  pretty 
covering.  In  171 2  Richard  Hall  sent,  from 
Barbadoes  to  Boston,  a  trunk  of  his  deceased 
wife's  finery  to  be  sold,  among  which  was 
' '  one  black  Flowered  Gauze  Hoode, ' '  and 
he  added  rather  spitefully  that  he  ''could 
send  better  but  it  would  be  too  rich  for 
Boston."  Servants  wore  hoods  also  ;  many 
runaways  were  advertised  as  wearing  that 
head-gear  ;  on  May  6,  1 7 1 7,  the  Boston  News 
Z^//^r  contained  a  description  of  a  gayly  at- 
tired Indian  runaway,  who  wore  off  a 
'<  Camblet  Ryding  Hood  fac'd  with  blue  ;" 
while  another  wore  a  dark  brown  riding- 
hood  lined  and  faced  with  crimson.  A  rid- 
ing-hood had  apparently  a  deep  cape,  for 
in  the  Weekly  Rehearsal  oi  April  10,  1732, 
a  runaway  slave  is  advertised  as  wearing  off 
an  ''Orange  colour'd  Riding  Hood  with 
Armholes."  In  old  embroideries  and  prints 
we  see  good  examples  of  riding-hoods. 

In   1724    Mr.   Thomas   Amory  wrote  to 
England  for  a  '*  good  fashionable  fine  riding- 

133 


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hood  or  a  cloak  with  a  hood  to  it  embroid- 
ered. Any  color  would  do  except  red  or 
yellow."  The  following  year,  in  Madam 
Usher's  wardrobe  were  **  Nine  hoods  of  Sev- 
eral Sorts."  Mistress  Estabrook,  wife  of 
the  parson  at  Windham,  Conn.,  had  many 
hoods  of  silk  and  gauze  and  serge  and  camlet. 

In  1737  "Fine,  cource,  and  Pug  Hoods" 
were  advertised  by  Boston  milliners  in  Boston 
papers,  and  * '  Tossells  for  Hoods ' '  also. 
*'Pugs"  were  in  fashion  for  many  years. 
Velvet  hoods,  and  gauze  hoods  appeared  in 
season.  Gypsy  hoods,  too,  had  their  day. 
Then  came  muskmelon  hoods  and  pump- 
kin hoods — the  latter  perhaps  the  hottest 
head-coverings  ever  invented  outside  an 
Esquimau  igloo — a  hood  that,  as  Tom  Brown 
said,  *  *  would  make  a  Laplander  sweat  at 
the  North  Pole."  These  clumsy  pumpkin 
hoods  were  made  of  great  rolls  of  wool  pad- 
ding placed  between  double  woollen  cover- 
ing, and  held  in  place  by  quiltings  or  cords. 

It  would  appear  also  that  men  wore  some 
form  of  head-gear  like  a  hood  and  also  called  a 
hood.     Judge  Sewall  donned  one,  probably 
to  protect  his  neck,  since  he  wore  no  wig. 
134 


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Hoops.  When  Margaret  Winthrop  and 
Priscilla  Molines  landed  on  the  unknown 
shore  of  New  England,  their  clinging  gar- 
ments were  not  distended  and  disfigured  by- 
hoops.  Nor  do  I  find  any  signs  of  the  reign 
of  hoops  or  "  vardingales  "  in  New  England 
until  the  eighteenth  century,  save  in  the 
will  of  one  EHzabeth  Cutler  in  1663,  where 
she  mentions  a  ''  Morone  coulour'd  Carsey 
Houp  "  worth  sixteen  shillings.  With  the 
opening  of  the  century,  hoops  came  in  fash- 
ion, for  in  1 70 1  Solomon  Stoddard  wrote  to 
Judge  Sewall,  mentioning  ^'hooped  petti- 
coats ' '  as  trenching  on  morality.  Indeed 
the  tradition  assigned  for  their  assumption 
seems  to  have  put  them  in  bad  repute  every- 
where ever  since  1596,  when  the  author  of 
Pleasant  Quippes  for  Upstart  New  -  Fan- 
gled  Gentlewomen  thus  wrote  : 

These  hoops  that  hippes  and  haunch  do  hide 
And  heave  aloft  the  gay  hoyst  traine, 

As  they  are  now  in  use  for  pride, 
So  did  they  first  beginne  of  paine. 

But  hoops  were  quickly  tolerated,  even  by 
very  godly  Puritan  folk,  for  when  William 

135 


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Pepperell  married  Judge  Sevvall's  grand- 
daughter, Mary  Hirst,  in  1723,  one  of  the 
bridegroom's  valued  wedding  gifts  was  a 
hooped  petticoat ;  and  I  doubt  not  Mistress 
Mary  Pepperell  walked  proudly  to  the  North 
Church  on  the  following  Sabbath  with  dress 
spread  out  over  her  new  hoop  as  she  "  came 
out  bride ' '  observed  of  all  in  the  narrow 
Boston  street  and  in  the  Puritan  meeting- 
house. 

In  1 7 13  there  was  printed  in  Boston  "A 
Satyr,  in  Verse :  Origin  of  the  Whalebone 
Petticoat,"  showing  by  the  advent  of  carica- 
cature  that  the  reign  of  hoops  had  begun. 
The  ban  of  religion  was  also  placed  on  the 
unwelcome  fashion.  The  New  England 
Courant  offered  for  three  pence,  in  1722,  a 
little  book  **  intituled  " — *'  Hoop-Pettycoats 
Arraigned  and  Condemned  by  the  Light  of 
Nature  and  Laws  of  God."  On  April  19, 
1728,  **  Womens  Hoop  Coats"  were  adver- 
tised in  the  New  England  Weekly  Journal^ 
and  at  the  same  time  Mr.  Amory,  a  rich  Bos- 
ton merchant,  condemned  and  returned  a  lot 
of  petticoats  consigned  to  him  from  England, 
because  they  were  too  scanty  for  wear  with 
13^ 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


the  hoops  then  in  vogue.  In  1740  ''  Quilt- 
ed and  Hooped  Petticoats"  were  imported, 
and  petticoats  suitable  to  large  or  small 
hoops.  Hooped  coats  appeared, — ''  Long 
&  Short  Bone  Hoop  Coats, ' '  and  ' '  Hoop- 
ing Holland  ;  ' '  the  latter  evidently  to  make 
strong  linen  petticoats  into  which  reeds  or 
bones  could  be  run,  as  Pope  said,  "  arm'd 
with  ribs  of  whale."  Whalebone  and  reeds 
were  also  plentifully  sold,  and  cane  and 
' '  quhaill-horne  " — which  was  only  another 
name  for  whalebone.  The  size  and  spread 
of  hoops  at  this  date  may  be  fancied,  when 
it  is  told  that  there  were  advertised  in  1748, 
in  the  Boston  Independent  Advertiser,  *'  Fine 
Newest  Fashion  Hoop  Petticoats  from  3 
yards  to  5  yards  made  with  fine  Long  Bone." 
The  shapes  of  hoops  varied  in  New  England, 
as  in  England  and  France.  Fly  hoops  were 
worn  in  1755.  J^^^  Eustis,  a  fashionable 
Boston  mantua-maker  and  shopkeeper,  had 
**  Fan  Hoops"  for  sale  in  1758.  In  1721 
came  ' '  Bell  Hoops  ' '  of  pyramidal  shape, 
very  large  at  the  base ;  and  ' '  Pocket  Hoops  ' ' 
— great  panier-shaped  humps,  one  on  each 
hip — the  ugliest  and  most  cumbersome  fashion 
137 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


ever  in  vogue,  were  worn  in  1750  and  also  in 
1 780.  The  portrait  of  Juliana  Penn,  daughter- 
in-law  of  William  Penn,  shows  pocket  hoops 
standing  out  a  foot  and  a  half  horizontally 
from  the  waist.  In  an  old  piece  of  tapestry 
embroidered  in  1756,  portraying  a  wedding 
procession  in  Boston,  the  women  all  wear 
pocket  hoops.  The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Nicholas 
Boylston  (1765)  displays  a  big  hoop.  The 
advertisement  of  children's  hoops  and  hoop- 
coats  proves  that  little  girls  ballooned 
through  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia 
streets  as  universally  and  unbecomingly  as 
did  their  modish  mothers.  The  shapes  of  all 
these  hoops  followed  closely  those  of  Eng- 
land ;  swelling  at  the  sides  in  vast  '*  rumps  " 
in  Boston  within  a  year  after  that  ugly  fashion 
obtained  in  London  ;  standing  out  in  a  vast 
circle  around  the  feet  of  the  sensible  wives 
of  the  Salem  merchants  and  Charleston  and 
Annapolis  ship-owners,  just  as  similar  ones 
proudly  surrounded  the  limbs  of  patrician 
English  duchesses.  The  classic  garb  of  the 
court  of  Josephine  banished  hoops  for  a  time, 
only  to  return  until  our  own  day  in  constant- 
ly recurring  waves  of  fashion. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Hose.  The  words  hose  and  stockings 
seem  to  have  been,  from  earliest  New  England 
days,  interchangeable.  When  doublet  and 
hose  were  worn,  the  latter  were  of  course  the 
long  Florentine  hose,  somewhat  like  our 
modern  tights.  In  the  list  of  goods  fur- 
nished to  the  colonists  in  1628,  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Company,  both  are  named. 
*'  300  peare  of  stockings  w'of  200  pere 
Irish  about  ii'^or  13^^  a  p.  100  peare  of 
knit  stockings  about  2^  4"^  apr.,  200  sutes 
dublett  and  hose  of  leather  lyned  w'th  oil'd 
skyn  Lether,  ye  hose  &  dublett  with  hookes 
and  eyes.  100  sutes  of  Norden  dussens  or 
hampheere  kersies  lyned  the  hose  with 
skyns."  The  Piscataquay  planters  had  in 
1635  "40  Doz  Coarse  Hose,  204  Pair 
Stockins,  149  Pair  Small  Hose,"  which 
were  all,  I  think,  stockings.  I  judge  from 
the  number  of  pair  of  breeches  supplied  to 
these  Piscataquay  settlers  that  long  hose 
were  in  1635  no  longer  in  vogue. 

Gayly  colored  stockings  appear  to  have 

been  worn.     We  find  John  Eliot  ordering 

*'greene    &   blew    Cotton    Stockings"    in 

165 1.     In  1667  a  Hartford  gentleman  had 

139 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


sent  to  him  from  England  a  pair  *'  Pinck 
colour' d  mens  hose  "  worth  a  pound,  and  a 
'*  paire  of  womens  green  hose  worth  thirteen 
shillings,  and  ten  paire  mens  silke  hose." 
Yellow  stockings  were  ordered  from  England 
in  1660  for  one  who  wished  to  appear 
irradiated  like  Malvolio.  In  1739  russet 
and  green  were  the  favorite  colors.  By- 
Revolutionary  times  white  silk  hose  were 
worn  by  modish  beaux. 

Cloth  stockings,  such  as  Queen  Elizabeth 
wore,  are  frequently  named  in  lists.  In  1675 
eighteen  dozen  sold  for  ;£i4  8s.  The  Irish 
stockings  so  often  imported  must  have  been 
of  cloth  or  felting,  for  in  New  EnglamV s 
First  Fruits  we  read  instructions  to  bring 
over  ''good  Irish  stockings,  which  if  they 
are  good  are  much  more  serviceable  than 
knit  ones."  There  appears  to  have  been 
much  variety  in  shape,  as  well  as  in 
material.  John  Usher,  writing  in  1675  to 
England,  says,  ''your  sherrups  stockings 
and  your  turn  down  stockings  are  not  salable 
here."  Judge  Sewall  orders  in  1723,  "  two 
pair  good  Knit  Worsted  Stockings  of  the 
colour  of  the  inclosed  Cloth ;  not  to  roll, 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


not  Picked  Snouts,  but  Round  Toes.  Two 
pair  of  good  Mill'd  Stockings  of  a  dark 
Colour,  round  Toes."  Roll-up  stockings 
were  worth  lo  shillings  a  pair  in  1691. 
**Indean  Stockings"  were  bequeathed. 
They  were  probably  leather  leggins. 
Leather  stockings  were  also  worn,  even  by 
such  a  dignitary  as  William  Penn. 

Stirrup  stockings  and  socks  were  advertised 
in  the  Boston  News  Letter  of  January  30, 
1 731.  Stirrup-hose  are  described  and  drawn 
by  Randle  Holme  in  his  note-book,  dated 
1658,  which  is  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum.  They  were  very  wide  at  the  top — 
two  yards  wide — and  edged  with  points  or 
eyelet  holes  by  which  they  were  made  fast 
to  the  girdle  or  bag-breeches.  Sometimes 
they  were  allowed  to  bag  down  over  the 
garter.  They  are  said  to  have  been  worn 
on  horseback  to  protect  the  other  garments  ; 
but  Holme  speaks  of  other  hose  being  worn 
over  them. 

"  Diced    Hose,    masqueraded    hose,    silk 

cloked  &  chevered  hose.  Fine   four-thread 

Strawbridge   knit   hose,  yarn   hose,   ribbed 

pointed  chivelled  worsted  hose,  Jersey  knit 

141 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

hose,"  all  were  sold  in  Boston  previous  to 
1740,  showing  that  ''many  dispositions  of 
hose"  were  known. 

Hum-hum  A  plain  coarse-meshed  Indian 
fabric  made  of  cotton,  much  advertised  in 
the  middle  of  the  century.  We  read  of 
* '  blue  Humhums  ' '  and  ' '  Humphumps  for 
Sacks ' '  for  sale  in  various  Boston  news- 
papers, from  1750  to  1770. 

Inkle.  A  woollen  tape  or  braid  formerly 
used  by  simple  folk  as  a  trimming,  being 
sewed  on  in  patterns.  Autolycus  had  inkles 
in  his  pack  to  sell  to  the  shepherds.  John 
Pyncheon  charged  thirteen  pence  for  ''a 
bunch  of  Incle  "  in  his  Springfield  shop  in 
1 65 1.  Inkles  were  sometimes  striped.  I 
find  them  advertised  till  Revolutionary  times 
in  New  England  papers,  in  this  wise  :  ''Rich 
inkle  lustring,"  "striped  inkle,"  "stay 
inkle,"  etc.  In  England  the  name  is  now 
applied  to  a  broad  linen  tape. 

IzAVEES.     Elizabeth  Murray  had  "  Izavees 
for  Sacks  "  in  1752.     This  may  have  been 
a  New  England  spelling  of  Vis-a-vis. 
143 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Jacket.  Edward  Skinner  had  a  jacket 
in  1641  ;  and  after  1720  jackets  seem  to 
have  been  worn  much  by  servants,  for  they 
appear  in  the  inventories  of  the  garb  of  run- 
aways :  a  swanskin  jacket  in  1720;  ''dark 
almost  black  Double  Breasted  Frieze  Jacket ' ' 
in  1720  ;  ^'  Pee  Double-Breasted  Jacket  with 
Brass  Buttons  "  in  1730  ;  and  a  ''  cinnamon- 
coulour'd  Jacott  "  in  1733.  Linen  jackets 
were  worn  by  southern  slaves. 

Jerkin.  Strutt  says  that  a  jerkin,  a  jacket, 
and  a  coat  were  the  same  thing.  In  Mer- 
i ton's  Clavis,  1697,  the  compiler  says  a 
''jerkin  is  a  kind  of  jacket  or  upper  doub- 
let with  four  skirts  or  laps."  In  Two  Gen- 
tlemen of  Verona,  act  2,  sc.  4,  we  read, 
"  My  jerkin  is  a  doublet :"  and  both  names 
appear  to  have  been  applied  to  the  same 
garment,  and  also  to  a  buff-coat.  The 
name  is  not  frequently  seen  in  America,  even 
in  early  colonial  inventories.  Edward  Skin- 
ner  of  Boston  had  "  i  Ircken  "  in  1641.  '/ 
Governor  Winthrop  had  a  "  two  tufted  vel-  / 
vet  jerkin."  Maryland  planters  had  erkyns.  ' 
It  was  also  spelt  jorgen  and  jergen,  and,  as  in 
143 


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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


old  Dutch,  jurkken.     A  jerkinet  was  a  similar 
garment  for  women's  wear. 

Jimp.     See  Jump. 

Joseph.  A  name  given  in  the  eighteenth 
century  to  a  lady's  riding  habit  or  great- 
coat buttoned  down  the  front,  and  with  a 
broad  cape.  It  is  said  to  have  been  named 
in  allusion  to  Joseph's  coat  of  many  colors. 
We  know  that  Olivia,  in  the  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field, was  to  have  her  portrait  painted 
* 'dressed  in  a  green  Joseph." 

A  curious  diminutive  or  degraded  form 
of  the  word  and  garment  was  used  in  the 
Middle  States.  In  the  New  York  Mercury  of 
June  1 6,  1760,  we  read  of  a  runaway  maid- 
servant wearing  off  *'peniston  Josey,"  and 
another  a  "blue  and  white  Cotton  Josey." 

JoRGEN.     See  Jerkin. 

Jump.  ' '  A  loose  stays  or  waistcoat ' ' 
used  in  negligee  dress.  We  read  in  the 
Universal  Magazine  of  1 780  : 

Now  a  shape  in  neat  stays, 
•Now  a  slattern  in  jumps. 
144 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


And  again,  *'  Bless  me,  don't  mind  my  shape 
this  bout,  I'm  only  in  jumps."  In  Novem- 
ber, 1754,  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post 
"  Womens  and  Maids  stays  and  Jumps  "  ap- 
pear ;  and  also  in  New  York  papers  of  the 
same  date.  From  the  entries  in  early  wills 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  it  would  seem 
that  the  word  '*  jump  "  was  then  appHed  to 
waistscoats  and  bodices  worn  for  outer  gar- 
ments, not  to  a  loose  stays  worn  as  an  under- 
garment. Randle  Holme  describes  it  as  ''a 
jacket,  jump,  or  loose  coat  reaching  to  the 
thighs."  Jumps  were  also  called  jimps  and 
may  have  been  derived  from  jupe.  We 
read  in  Burns,  *'My  ladies  jimps  and  jer- 
kinet."  I  think  our  word  in  modern  use, 
jumper,  a  loose  overall  jacket,  is  derived 
from  jump. 

Kerchief.     See  Handkerchief. 

Kersey. 

Be  thine  of  Kersey  firm  though  small  the  cost 
Then  brave  unwet  the  Rain,  unchill'd  the  Frost. 

Kersey  was  a  firm  woollen  cloth  made  of 
long-fibred  wool,  and  was  known  in  Eng- 
145 


VlBRA^ 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


land  as  early  as  the  time  of  Edward  III. 
It  was  spelt  in  America  in  the  usual  ingen- 
ious assortment  of  ways,  carsey  being  the 
favorite  form.  From  it  were  made  the  gar- 
ments of  the  Pilgrims  on  the  Mayflower, 
those  of  the  Massachusetts  Puritans,  the 
Virginian  Cavaliers,  and  the  Maine  fisher- 
men. In  1640  seven  yards  of  kersey  were 
worth  j£i  Ss.  By  an  inventory  of  one 
Leadlaw  in  Saco,  Me.,  in  1662,  we  learn 
it  was  then  and  there  worth  ten  shillings  a 
yard.  By  1692,  settler  Foxcroft,  writing  to 
England  with  regard  to  future  importations 
to  the  new  land,  said,  "  Kerseys  &  Cource 
Linens  are  a  Drug."  Devonshire  carsey  is 
mentioned  in  early  wills,  and  appeared  in 
newspaper  advertisements  from  1704  until 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  especially 
in  the  description  of  the  dress  of  runaways, 
in  the  Boston  News  Letter  oi  September,  1704, 
as  when  an  eloping  servant  wore  '■ '  Gray  home- 
spun Devonshire  Kersey  breeches,"  and 
again,  when  an  Indian  maid  wore  off  a 
<*  Kersey  Peticote." 

Khantsloper.     See  Slops. 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Kit-Packs.     See  Buskin. 

Lace.  The  word  lace  was  applied  in 
early  days  both  to  a  lacing  cord  and,  as  we 
now  use  it,  to  an  open-work  trimming  lace. 
A  lace  was  originally  the  cord  that  held 
garments  in  place,  and  as  it  was  crossed 
backward  and  forward  it  formed  open-work 
meshes,  the  prototype  of  the  lace  meshes. 
When  Sir  William  Pepperell  wrote  abroad 
in  1737  for  ^'Agold  Lace  for  a  Hat  and 
Botten  for  my  Selfe  and  a  Lace  for  ye  knees 
and  a  paire  of  Breeches, ' '  he  meant  probably 
gold  cords. 

In  1634  the  Massachusetts  General  Court 
made  many  rigid  laws  forbidding  the  wear- 
ing of  "any  app'ell  either  wollen  silke  or 
lynnen  with  any  lace  on  it,  Silver,  golde, 
silke  or  thread."  These  laws  did  not,  how- 
ever, work  the  desired  end;  many  women 
and  men  were  prosecuted  and  fined  for  wear- 
ing lace,  *' Ester  wife  of  Joseph  Jynkes  Jr. 
of  Lyn "  being  among  the  number.  In 
Connecticut  a  similar  law  existed.  ''What 
person  soever  shall  weare  gold  or  silver  lace 
or  any  bone  lace  above  3  sh  a  yard,  shall  be 
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assessed  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
estate." 

Bone  lace  was  used  by  the  earliest  colo- 
nists— the  Pilgrims  themselves  and  the  James- 
town settlers,  and  also  in  England  in  the 
sixteenth  century. 

The  spinsters  and  the  knitters  in  the  sun 
And  the  free  maids  that  weave  their  thread  with 
bones. 

Thus  wrote  Shakespeare  in  his  Twelfth 
Night.  Fuller  in  his  Worthies  says  this 
lace  was  called  bone  lace  because  made  with 
bone  bobbins ;  and  he  defended  its  use  be- 
cause its  material  was  not  expensive,  be- 
cause its  manufacture  employed  children  and 
infirm  persons,  and  because  it  saved  the 
spending  of  many  thousands  of  pounds  yearly 
by  Englishmen  for  lace  in  Flanders. 

In  the  printed  notice  of  the  prize  of  a 
privateersman,  in  colonial  days,  we  find 
''bone  lace,"  and  it  was  advertised  for 
sale  for  many  years  in  New  England  news- 
papers—  in  1736  in  the  New  England 
Weekly  Journal,  ' '  Black  Bone  Lace ; ' '  and 
in  1749  in  the  Boston  Independent  Adver- 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


tiser.  And  it  was  used  to  trim  gowns  and 
smocks,  and  capes,  and  petticoats,  as  inven- 
tories show.  And  industrious  New  England 
maids,  Judge  Sewall's  daughters  among  the 
number,  were  taught  to  make  it  on  their  lace 
cushions. 

New  England  dames  had  imported  laces 
also  to  choose  from.  The  portraits  of  the 
times  show  many  frills  and  collars  of  various 
laces.  In  1712  **Gymp'r  Lace"  was  im- 
ported, worth  twelve  shillings  a  yard.  It 
was  also  called  "Gimp  Lace."  ''Dutch 
Lace,  Blond  Lace,  Black  Silk  Lace  ' '  came 
next.  In  1727  came  ''Fine  Mechlon  Silk 
Laces  &  Edgings  ;  "  while  Magdalen  Wroe 
had  Machhn  Lace.  "Scarlet  &  Crimson 
Silk  Lace  with  Mantle  Tossels ' '  were  adver- 
tised in  the  New  England  Weekly  Journal 
in  1736.  Flanders  lace  came  frequently, 
and  snail  laces.  Campane  lace,  a  very 
narrow  pillow  lace  used  as  an  edge,  was,  I 
suppose,  campaign  lace.  It  was  made  in 
gold  and  colored  silk  as  well  as  in  white. 
Blo^vn  lace  was  the  commonest  of  all. 

Colverteen,  also  spelt  golbertaine,  coller- 
tine,  collertain,  and  colbertine,  was  a  lace 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


with  square  meshes,  so  called  from  Louis 
XIV. 's  minister,  Colbert,  who  promoted  the 
lace  industry.  It  was  used  to  trim  bands 
and  caps.  We  read  in  Swift's  Bauds  and 
Philemon  of  *<good  pinners  edged  with 
colberteen."  Curiously  enough  the  name 
was  not  used  in  France.  In  1755  Bath  lace, 
Mechlin,  **  bonseel,"  Flanders,  Brussels, 
minott,  coxcomb,  *'traly,"  **  taste,"  blond 
and  bone  laces  were  all  imported.  Traly  or 
trolley  lace  was  made  in  Devonshire.  It 
had  a  double  ground  of  hexagonal  and  tri- 
angular meshes.  The  pattern  was  outlined 
with  a  heavier  thread.  Minott,  or  minuet, 
or  minuit,  or  mignonette  lace  was  a  narrow 
bobbin  lace  resembhng  tulle,  or  our  modem 
footing ;  it  was  made  chiefly  at  Arras  and 
Lille.  Five  years  later  "thread  inlet," 
**cheveau  du  friz"  (which  I  think  was  fly- 
fringe)  and  *' spider"  laces  were  imported. 
It  is  impossible  to  definitely  describe  these 
laces.  Mrs.  Bary-Palliser's  book  on  laces 
gives  some  information.  They  were  doubt- 
less much  like  our  hand-made  laces  of  the 
present  day ;  our  blond,  Mechlin,  thread, 
and  Brussels  laces. 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Gold  and  silver  laces  were  worn  by  men, 
and  occasionally  lace-edged  ruffles  at  the 
shirt  front  and  wrists,  and  a  few  lace-edged 
cravats  were  seen  in  Virginia ;  but  ' '  true 
New  England  men  "  and  Quakers  followed 
no  extreme  cavalier  fashions,  nor  did  the 
Dutch.     See  Net. 

Lappet.  The  lace  pendant  of  a  lady's 
cap  or  head-dress.  Horace  Walpole  called 
them  ''unmeaning  pendants."  In  the  Bos- 
ton Gazette  of  November  13,  1750,  we  read 
of  "  Lappitt  Heeds,"  and  in  Xht Boston  Even- 
ing Post  of  September,  1758,  Jane  Eustis 
advertised  ''Blown  Lace  Lappet  Heads." 
In  1772  came  "Very  Neat  Flanders  and 
Brussels  Lappet  Heads."  In  many  of  the 
portraits  of  the  times  we  see  long  lace  lappets 
on  the  caps. 

Lellokans.     See  Pins. 

Lend.  A  thin  gauzy  linen  made  in  imita- 
tion of  muslin,  and  much  used  for  caps  and 
head-dresses  a  hundred  years  ago. 

Levite.      Lady   Cathcart — an  American 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


by  birth — writing  to  her  aunt  in  1781,  gave 
thus  the  London  fashions : 

They  wear  for  morning  a  white  poloneze  or  a 
dress  they  call  a  Levete,  which  is  a  kind  of  gown 
and  Peticote  with  long  sleeves  made  with  scarcely 
any  pique  in  the  back,  and  worn  with  a  sash  tyed  on 
the  left  side.  They  make  these  in  winter  of  white 
dimity,  and  in  Summer  of  Muslin  with  Chints  bor- 
ders. 

This  explains  the  advertisements  in  the 
Boston  Evening  Post  oi  1783,  of  *'  callicoes 
for  Levites." 

The  levite  was  originally  a  long  straight 
frock-coat  somewhat  like  that  worn  by  a 
priest.  Horace  Walpole  satirized  it  as  re- 
sembling ''a  man's  nightgown  tied  round 
with  a  belt."  The  robe-levite  imitated  it 
with  a  train  added.  A  ''monkey-tailed 
levite ' '  had  a  curiously  twisted  train,  and 
was  a  French  fashion.  In  the  translation,  by 
Mrs.  Cashel  Hoey,  of  Robida's  Ten  Cen- 
turies of  Toilette  there  is  shown  on  page  177a 
levite  robe — and  a  very  modish-looking  gar- 
ment it  is.  The  word  Levite,  like  the  robe, 
is  now  obsolete. 

LiLLiKiNS.     See  Pins. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


LiRiPiPES.  Pendent  streamers  to  a  hood 
or  head-dress,  often  long  enough  to  hang  to 
the  feet.  These  liripipes  were  of  gauze  or  rib- 
bons and  were  not  used  as  strings,  but  were 
simply  ornamental.  Also  spelt  lyripups  and 
lerrypups.  The  word  was  derived  from  liri- 
pipiu7n,  a  hood  of  a  particular  form  formerly 
worn  by  graduates.     See  Lappet. 

Lockets.  Michael  Wigglesworth,  author 
of  the  dreadful  Day  of  Doom  was  a  warm 
lover ;  he  gave  to  his  third  wife,  while  he 
was  wooing  her,  a  dainty  little  heart-shaped 
locket,  which  is  still  owned  by  one  of  his 
descendants.  Other  colonists  owned  these 
pretty  trinkets ;  John  Oxenbridge  had  two. 
The  widow  of  Colonel  Livingstone,  of  New 
London,  had  a  '^  stone  drop  for  the  neck  and 
a  red  stone  for  a  locket."  '*  Stone  heart 
lockets  for  hair  sett  in  gold  "  were  adver- 
tised in  1762,  and  "mocus  lockets"  and 
*  '■  silvered  lockets. ' '  Lockets  were  worn  on 
both  the  arm  and  the  neck. 

LoRETTO.     A  silk  material  much  used  for 
fine  waistcoats  in  1767. 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Lustring.  A  soft  plain  silk  universally 
worn.  It  was  neither  corded  nor  figured  nor 
had  it  a  satin  surface.  We  find  Judge  Sew- 
all,  writing  to  England  in  1697,  for  ''  forty 
yards  of  Flower' d  Lustring  not  to  exceed 
5  sh  per  yard,"  for  petticoats,  and  also  for 
silk  fringe  to  trim  these  lustring  petticoats. 
Thomas  Amory,  writing  to  England  in  1721, 
said  ''Lutstrings  are  staple  commodities." 
The  fashionable  colors  in  lustrings  in  1783 
were,  "  Plumb,  Pink,  Flystale,  Cinnamon, 
and  Laylock,"  so  said  the  Newport  Mercury. 
The  name  appears  till  the  middle  of  this 
century  in  common  use. 

Mandillion.  a  man's  garment  some- 
thing of  the  nature  of  a  doublet  and  also 
spelt  mandilian.  It  was  first  worn  in  France 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  was  for  many 
years  a  soldier's  wear,  and  was  frequently 
sleeveless.  Chapman,  in  his  translation  of 
the  Iliady  writes  thus  of  a  mandillion  : — 

About   him    a  mandillion   that    did   with    buttons 

meet, 
Of    purple,    large,  and  full  of  folds,   curl'd  with  a 

warraful  nap. 

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Mandillions  were  among  the  articles  of  cloth- 
ing given  to  each  Bay  and  Piscataquay 
planter. 

The  mandillions  of  the  New  England  col- 
onists were  fastened  with  hooks  and  eyes, 
and  lined  with  cotton. 

Manteau.  See  Mantua. 
Mantelet.  See  Mantle. 
Manto.     See  Mantua. 

Mantle.  In  1662  Mary  Lake,  of  Ips- 
wich, had  a  scarlet  mantle  appraised  at  ^4. 
Penelope  Winslow,  the  wife  of  the  governor 
of  Plymouth  Plantations,  had  her  portrait 
painted  at  about  that  date  in  a  similar  scar- 
let mantle.  In  the  JVew  England  Weekly 
Journal,  of  1739  we  read  of  the  sale  of 
"  Manteels,"  and  in  1743,  in  the  Boston 
News  Letter,  that  '^  Ladies  may  have  their 
Mantelets  made."  The  words  mantle  and 
mantelet  were  closely  akin  to  the  word 
mantua,  q.  v. 

Mantua.     Originally  a   gown  or  sacque 
open  to  display  the  petticoat ;  then  the  out- 
iSS 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


er  mantle  or  cape,  and  finally  a  stuff  for  the 
making  of  mantuas.  So  universal  was  the 
wear  of  mantuas  that  they  gave  their  name 
to  the  maker  of  cloaks  —  a  mantua-maker. 
Silks  for  mantues,  manteaus,  and  mantuas 
appear  in  all  the  eighteenth  century  news- 
papers. In  the  Boston  News  Letter  of 
April  5,  1729,  we  read  of  the  setting-up  of  a 
milliner  who  "  designed  the  making  of  Man- 
tos  and  Riding  Dresses."  In  1741  came 
yellow  mantua  silk.  In  1755  Elizabeth 
Murray  had  *  '■  Enamelled  Mantuas ' '  for  sale. 

Marcasite.  Marcasite,  spelled  also  mar- 
cassite,  marchasite,  marquesett,  or  mar- 
quaset,  was  a  mineral,  the  crystallized  form 
of  iron  pyrites.  It  was  largely  used  in  the 
eighteenth  century  for  various  ornamental 
purposes,  chiefly  in  the  decoration  of  the 
person.  It  could  be  readily  polished,  and 
when  cut  in  facets  like  a  rose-diamond,  formed 
a  pretty  material  for  shoe  and  knee  buckles, 
ear-rings,  rings,  pins,  and  hair  ornaments. 
Scarce  a  single  advertisement  of  wares  of 
milliner  or  mantua-maker  can  be  found  in 
eighteenth  century  newspapers,  that  does  not 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


contain  (in  some  form  of  spelling)  the  word 
marcasite,  and  scarce  a  rich  gown  or 
head-dress  was  seen  without  some  ornament 
of  marcasite. 

Masks.  For  many  years  the  fair  colo- 
nists, Quakers,  Huguenots,  and  Puritans,  had 
a  fashion  of  wearing  ' '  sun-expelling  masks, ' ' 
to  protect  the  complexion  against  the  wind, 
sun,  and  cold.  Children  wore  them  also. 
George  Washington  sent  abroad  for  masks 
for  his  wife  and  for  his  little  step-daughter, 
**  Miss  Custis;"  and  *' childrens  masks" 
are  often  named  in  bills  of  sale.  Loo- 
masks  were  small  half  masks  and  were  also 
imported.  Sometimes  these  masks  were  held 
in  the  hand;  but  riding  masks  were  often 
fitted  with  a  silver  mouthpiece,  by  which  the 
close-set  lips  or  teeth  of  flie  wearer  could 
hold  the  protecting  mask  in  place,  since  her 
hands  were  otherwise  occupied  with  the  reins 
or  holding  herself  on  the  pillion.  Some- 
times, following  an  old-time  French  fashion, 
the  mask  had  fastened  to  the  mouth-opening 
two  short  silken  strings  with  a  silver  bead  or 
button  at  the  end  of  each.     With  a  bead 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


placed  in  either  corner  of  her  mouth,  the 
mask  wearer  could  talk  and  still  hold  her 
mask  firmly  in  place.  For  a  while  it  was 
fashionable  to  wear  the  mask  or  vizard  hang- 
ing by  a  ribbon  or  cord  at  the  side.  In 
1645  masks  were  forbidden  to  be  worn  in 
Plymouth,  Mass.,  for  ^'  improper  purposes," 
and  I  have  puzzled  long  over  what  those  im- 
proper purposes  could  have  been  in  that  staid, 
pious,  and  small  community.  In  1654  one 
Burril,  of  Lynn,  mentioned  two  masks  in 
his  inventory  of  property.  In  the  following 
year  one  dozen  black  velvet  masks  were  in- 
ventoried as  worth  ^1  4s.  As  early  as  1685 
New  York  dames  had  masks,  and  they  were 
sent  to  the  South  Carolina  settlers.  In  1729 
they  were  advertised  for  sale  in  Philadelphia. 
For  many  years  all  invoices  of  English  goods 
exported  to  America  contained  masks.  From 
1760  to  1790  they  were  mentioned  in  almost 
every  list  of  goods  offered  to  New  England 
shoppers,  and  must  have  been  universally 
worn.  They  were  of  black  velvet,  white 
silk,  green  silk,  and  "natural  coloured," 
which  latter  kind  must  have  been  specially 
disfiguring  and  ugly. 

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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Match- Coat.  The  definition  given  two 
centuries  ago  by  Governor  Beverley  of  Vir- 
ginia was  this  : 

The  proper  Indian  matchcoat  is  made  of  skins 
dressed  with  the  fur  or  sewed  together.  The  Duf- 
field  matchcoat  is  bought  of  the  English. 

The  name  match-cloth  was  given  to  a  coarse 
woollen  cloth  used  for  these  coats,  but  duffels 
were  chiefly  employed  in  their  manufacture. 
The  derivation  of  the  word  seems  uncertain. 
In  Baroga's  Chippewa  Dictionary  the  word 
matchigode  is  given  for  petticoat. 

Mercury.  A  mercury  was  a  cap  or 
head-dress  for  women's  wear,  often  mentioned 
in  public  sales.  From  the  Boston  Evening 
Post,  of  1760  and  1761,  we  gain  an  idea  of 
the  materials  used  in  these  mercuries — gauze, 
net,  trolly,  beads,  bugles,  lace,  etc. 

MiLLY.  The  name  of  a  color  which  ap- 
parently was  nearly  meal-colored.  I  have 
often  read  ofmilly,  tuly,  and  murry  woollens 
being  ordered. 

Minikins.     See  Pins. 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Mittens.  Wadmoll  mittens  were  among 
the  supplies  furnished  to  the  Bay  planters. 
Knit  mittens  and  those  made  of  heavy  cloth 
and  fur  were  constantly  worn.  We  read  of 
runaways  wearing  off  '^  jarning  "  and  *'  yarn 
mittens."  The  knitting  of  mittens  was  for 
many  years  a  lucrative  household  industry, 
and  much  ingenuity  was  displayed  in  the 
various  ornamental  stitches  employed  and 
pride  in  the  short  time  employed  in  knitting. 
Many  girls  could  knit  a  pair  of  double  mit- 
tens in  a  day.  Thrummed  mittens  were 
knit  from  the  thrums  of  wool,  ^nd  were 
much  cheaper.  Mittens  were  also  made  of 
heavy  cloth,  and  of  the  skins  of  various  ani- 
mals. 

Mitts.  Little  fingerless  gloves  were  for 
many  years  much  worn  and  went  by  the  name 
of  mitts.  They  were  made  of  kid  or  silk 
and  frequently  of  open  lace-work,  and  were 
a  favorite  summer  wear.  We  find  them  ad- 
vertised in  the  Boston  Evening  Post,  of 
November,  1750,  of  various  gay  colors — 
pink,  blue,  and  yellow,  which  were  probably 
for  evening  wear.  I  have  seen  old  mitts  of 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


woven  silk  with  handsome  medallions  of 
lace  set  in  on  the  back  of  the  hand.  A  cu- 
rious kind  of  mitts  was  worn  just  after  the 
Revolution.  Fingerless  covers,  like  sleeves, 
for  the  arms,  with  a  short  separate  thumb 
covering,  but  no  finger  divisions,  were  made 
of  cotton  or  linen  material  like  the  dress,  and 
were  freshly  starched  and  ironed  for  Sunday- 
wear.  They  were  buttoned  to  the  shoulder 
of  the  dress.  Such  mitts  were  often  made  of 
yellow  nankeen  to  wear  with  a  short-sleeved 
nankeen  gown.  I  think  the  ''  Womens  & 
girls  Jane  and  Linen  Mitts"  and  **  White 
Holland  Gloves,"  which  were  advertised  in 
Boston  in  1784,  must  have  been  these  un- 
comfortable sleeve  -  mitts.  And  when  the 
wife  of  Colonel  John  May,  of  Boston,  wrote 
in  her  diary  on  June  5,  1789,  ''  Cut  my  girls 
gloves,  set  them  to  work,  and  left  them  to 
take  care  of  the  house,"  the  gloves  named 
doubtless  were  these  linen  mitts. 

Mob.     See  Cap. 

Mocus.     Mocus,  mocho,  morko,  or  mo- 
chu  was  what  is  now  known  as  moss -agate  or 
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dendritic  agate.  These  '*  mocuses  "  were 
vastly  modish  in  England  in  Queen  Anne's 
day,  set  in  rings,  seals,  brooches,  buckles,  and 
necklaces  and  were  in  high  fashion  in  the 
colonies.  I  find  them  largely  advertised  in 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  newspapers. 

Modesty-Piece.  Addison  thus  describes 
it:  **A  narrow  lace  which  runs  along  the 
upper  part  of  the  stays  before,  being  a  part 
of  the  tucker,  is  called  the  modesty-piece. ' ' 
It  was  also  called  modesty-bit.  See  Gorget 
and  Stomacher. 

Monmouth  Cap.     See  Cap. 

MucKENDER.     See  Handkerchief. 

Muff.  Muffs  are  said,  by  some  English 
authorities,  to  have  been  introduced  into 
England  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  This 
is  obviously  incorrect,  since  Thomas  CuUa- 
more,  of  St.  Marys,  Maryland,  had  a  muff 
in  1638,  and  AHce  Ferrance  of  Boston  left 
a  **  muffe "  by  will  in  1656,  and  Jane 
Humphreys  of  Dorchester  one  with  a  winter 
hood  in  1668.  Judge  Sewall  bought,  in  Eng- 
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land,  muffs  of  Yarman  Serge,  and  four  other 
*'  good  muffs  "  that  he  bought  for  his  family 
— his  wife  and  daughters — cost  ^2  6s.  He 
also  ordered  muffs  from  abroad  at  later 
dates.  Cloth  as  well  as  fur  muffs  were 
made.  The  Connecticut  Coiirant  had  this 
startling  advertisement.  "■  Ladies  will  ob- 
tain muffs  much  cheaper  by  bringing  their 
own  skins."  A  few  of  the  different  ma- 
terials that  I  have  noted  in  advertisements 
are  here  named  :  ''  Martin  Muffs  &  Tip- 
pits,"  ^' New  Feather' d  Muffs,"  ''Swan 
feather 'd  muffs,"  ''Blue  &  colored  velvet 
muffs,"  "  Mouse  colour'd  muffs  of  a  peculiar 
kind  ;  ' '  which  were  apparently  all  for  wom- 
en's wear.  Muffs  grew  to  an  enormous  size 
and  were  carried  for  many  years  by  both 
men  and  women.  On  March  5,  17 15,  the 
Boston  News  Letter  contained  this  adver- 
tisement : 

Any  man  that  took  up  a  Mans  Muff  drop't  on  the 
Lords  Day  between  the  Old  Meeting  House  &  the 
South  are  desired  to  bring  it  to  the  Printers  Office 
and  shall  be  rewarded. ' 

In  1725,  Dr.   Prince  lost  his  "  black  bear- 
skin muff,"  and  in  1740  a  "  sable-skin  mans 
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muff"  was  advertised.  In  this,  as  in  other 
fashions,  New  England  beaux  followed  the 
lead  of  English  dandies.  Many  diaries  and 
letters — such  as  those  of  Horace  Walpole — 
show  the  prevalence  of  the  fashion  of  ' '  mans 
muffs  "  in  England.  I  can  easily  fancy  the 
mincing  face  of  Horace  Walpole  peering  out 
of  a  carriage  window  or  a  sedan  chair,  with 
his  hands  and  wrists  thrust  in  a  great  muff ; 
but  when  I  look  at  the  severe  and  ascetic 
countenance  in  the  portrait  of  Thomas  Prince 
I  find  it  hard  to  think  of  him,  walking 
solemnly  along  Boston  streets,  carrying  his 
big  bear-skin  muff.  Other  Bostonians  fol- 
lowed the  fashion  until  a  much  later  date — 
Judge  Dana  until  after  Revolutionary  times. 
In  New  York  Rene  Hett  had  several  muffs 
which  he  left  by  will  in  1783. 

MuFFETEES.  MufTetces  were  what  we 
would  now  call  wristlets,  and  were  worn  by 
men,  and  possibly  by  women.  The  sleeves 
of  men's  coats  were  made  very  short  in 
order  to  display  fine  lace  or  lawn  wrist 
ruffles.  Hence  the  wrists  were  thinly  clad 
and  much  exposed  to  the  cold.  Long  gloves 
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with  gauntlets  were  worn  for  protection,  and 
muffetees.  These  were  of  fur  or  woollen. 
In  the  Boston  Gazette  and  Weekly  Journal 
of  November,  1749,  ''Men's  fine  Worsted 
Gloves  and  Muffetees ' '  were  offered  for 
sale;  and  in  the  sanie  paper,  in  1755, 
*'  white  black  and  colour'd  Muffetees  "  were 
advertised.     They  were  also  knit  of  yarn. 

MuRRY.  A  reddish  purple  color — mul- 
berry color.  The  livery  colors  of  the  house 
of  York  were  murry  and  blue.  I  have  often 
seen  the  word  murry  in  lists  of  merchandise 
of  early  colonial  days.  It  was  a  favorite 
color  for  the  garments  of  respectable  elderly 
gentlemen. 

Nabobs.  Eliza  Southgate  Bowne,  writ- 
ing in  1803  of  the  fashions,  says  ''silk  na- 
bobs plaided,  colored,  and  white,  are  much 
worn."  In  other  letters  of  ten  years  earlier 
date  we  read  of  nabobs  for  women's  wear, 
but  with  no  definite  descriptions  thereof; 
and  any  such  signification  of  the  word  is  not 
given  in  our  dictionaries.  Nabobs  were 
probably  a  thin  East  Indian  stuff. 
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Nankeens.  Fairholt  says  nankeens  were 
introduced  into  America,  in  1825,  from 
Sicily.  His  statement  is  absurdly  incorrect, 
for  I  find  them  advertised  for  sale  in  the 
CharlestoJi  Gazette  (S.  C.)  as  early  as  May 
7,  1744,  and  in  1 761  in  the  Boston  Even- 
ing Fostf  and  read  also  of  runaway  slaves 
wearing  nankeen  breeches  in  1769.  George 
Washington  bought  them  in  large  quantities 
as  early  as  1 769.  By  1 780  they  were  a  vast- 
ly important  article  of  commerce  in  the  In- 
dia trade,  and  their  price  was  almost  a  stand- 
ard of  exchange.  They  were  used  by  all 
classes  and  both  sexes  for  all  variety  of  outer 
gear  for  both  summer  and  winter  wear,  but 
must  have  proved  rather  chilly  attire  by 
Christmas-tide.  The  name  is  given  from  the 
place  of  manufacture,  Nanking,  in  China, 
and  the  peculiar  buff  color  is  the  natural  tint 
of  the  cotton  of  which  the  nankeens  are 
made. 

Neck-cloth.     Jane  Humphreys,  of  Dor- 
chester, Mass.,  owned  in  1668,  ''A  black 
sike  (quilled)    Neckcloath,    a   Black   Stuffe 
Neck   Cloath,  and    a   Callico  Vnder    Neck 
166 


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Cloath. ' '  Other  colonists  had  speckled  neck- 
cloths, lawn  and  silesia  neck-cloths.  Men 
and  women  both  wore  them.  They  were 
also  called  neck-clothes,  neckerchiefs,  neck- 
ingers,  and  neckatees. 

Necklace.  When  the  venerable  Judge 
Sewall  was  courting  Madam  Winthrop  for  his 
third  wife,  he  ingratiatingly  asked  her  what 
kind  of  a  *'  Neck-Lace  "  he  should  bring  her, 
showing  that  these  trinkets  were  then  fashion- 
able and  plentiful — and  presumably  low- 
priced  (as  were  all  the  Judge's  gifts),  as  well 
as  proving  them  a  true  lover's  token.  In 
England,  at  the  same  date.  Madam  Pepys 
had  ''pitched  upon  a  necklace  with  three 
rows  of  pearls  which  is  a  very  good  one,  and 
so  is  the  price. ' '  From  early  advertisements 
in  tlie  Boston  News  Letter,  we  learn  some- 
thing of  the  fashion  of  the  necklaces  of  those 
days.  In  June,  1712,  a  "  White  Stone  fine- 
cut  Necklace  set  in  Silver  "  was  lost — only 
two  shillings  reward  was  offered.  In  the 
Boston  Evefiing Post  of  March  8,  1736,  there 
was  advertised  ''A  spangled  Gold  Chain, 
three  strings  with  a  large  Gold  Locket  hav- 
167 


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ing  Abigail  Andrews  wrote  upon  it."  ^5 
reward  was  offered  for  their  recovery.  In 
New  York  richer  necklaces  were  worn,  single 
and  triple  strings  of  pearls. 

In  1753  we  find  **  French  and  Solitair 
Necklaces, "  * '  light  blue  pendalls  and  Neck- 
laces," **Pink  and  White  Pearl  colored 
Necklaces;"  and  by  176 1  "Purple,  green 
and  black  necklaces  with  spreaders."  The 
latter  must  have  been  uncommonly  ugly  and 
were  probably  made  of  beads  or  bugles,  and 
formed  an  esclavage  or  festooned  necklace — 
a  French  fashion  introduced  in  1760.  In 
1 77 1,  J.  Coolidge,  Jr.,  had  for  sale  in  Bos- 
ton ''  Necklaces,  sprigs,  solitairs  and  pends 
set  with  marquasetts. ' '  Many  early  portraits 
show  necklaces,  usually  simple  strings  of 
beads,  the  latter  frequently  of  gold.  Many 
New  England  wives  at  a  later  date  placed 
their  hard-earned  savings,  their  *'  ^gg  and 
yarn  money,"  in  the  portable,  safe  and 
easily  salable  shape  of  gold  beads.  In  the 
diary  of  Abigail  Kellond,  kept  from  1685  to 
1730,  she  frequently  enters  the  number  of 
<*  goold  beeds"  on  her  and  her  daughter's 
necklaces.  The  latter  had  fifty-two  in  1686, 
168 


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and  thirty  years  later  she  had  ninety-nine 
beads.  Madam  Kellond  herself  had  one  hun- 
dred and  four  beads. 

Neckstock. 

The  stock  with  buckle  made  of  paste 
Has  put  the  cravat  out  of  date, 

wrote  Whyte  in  1742.  The  stock,  a  made- 
up,  stiffly  folded  cravat  or  neck-cloth,  with 
a  metal  spring  attached  to  keep  it  in  place 
when  on  the  neck,  is  not  wholly  obsolete  at 
the  present  day,  though  wholly  old-fashioned 
and  bucolic. 

In  1743,  in  the  Boston  News  Letter,  two 
neck-stocks  were  advertised  as  lost ;  and  in 
1764  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  vfQ  find 
mention  of  ' '  Stock-Tapes ' '  and  ' '  Newest 
fashion' d  plaited  Stocks."  In  the  Co7inecti- 
cut  Courant,  of  May  i,  1773,  and  in  New 
York  journals  we  find  silver  plated  and  pinch- 
beck stock  buckles  '*  cypher' d  and  plain." 
These  buckles  were  originally  set  as  an  orna- 
ment in  the  front  of  the  stock,  but  in  later 
days  the  stock  was  fastened  on  one  side  by 
a  strong  unornamented  buckle,  or  by  two 
small  buckles  and  straps. 
169 


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Negligee.  A  loose,  full  gown,  open  in 
front,  which  Fairholt  says  was  introduced 
about  1757.  I  find  in  iht  Boston  Evening 
Post  of  November,  1755,  *'  Horsehair  Quilt- 
ed Coats  to  wear  with  Negligees,"  and  they 
must  have  been  fashionable  at  an  earlier  date 
in  England  than  Fairholt  stated.  A  poem 
printed  in  New  York  in  1756  has  these  lines : 

Put  on  her  a  Shepherdee 
A  short  sack  or  Negligee 
Ruffled  high  to  keep  her  warm 
Eight  or  ten  about  an  arm. 

In  spite  of  the  signification  of  the  name, 
a  negligee  was  worn  in  full  dress.  Abigail 
Adams,  writing  to  Mrs.  Storer  in  1785,  said  : 
*' Trimming  is  reserved  for  full  dress  only, 
when  very  large  hoops  and  negligees  with 
trains  three  yards  long  are  worn."  We  find 
Benjamin  Franklin  sending  home  materials 
for  negligees  for  his  Deborah  in  1765. 

Net.  Though  we  still  have  various  ma- 
chine-made nets,  we  have  no  such  variety  as 
were  advertised  a  century  ago,  and  which 
seem  to  have  been  frequently  a  fine,  gauze, 
rather  than  an  open-meshed  net.  Some  of 
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the  curious  names  were :  picket  or  piquet 
net,  whip-net,  male  or  meal  net,  drop-net, 
spider  net,  balloon-net,  warp-net,  point-net, 
Paris  net,  bobbin-net,  dress-net,  undress- 
net,  patent  or  pattern  net,  lace-net,  dressed 
net,  queens  net,  queens  fancy  net,  caul-net. 
All  these  were  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
caps,  scarfs,  and  head-dresses,  and  for  furbe- 
lows for  gowns — some  of  them  for  the  entire 
gown.     See  Lace. 

Nightcap.  Everyone — men,  women,  and 
children  —  wore  nightcaps  as  part  of  the 
sleeping  attire,  until  modern  times.  When 
the  Governor  of  Acadia  sent  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts  the  list  of  goods  stolen 
from  him  by  *'  Mr.  Phips  "  he  named  *'  4 
nightcaps  with  lace  edge ;  8  nightcaps 
without  lace."  Men  at  one  time  wore 
nightcaps  in  day-time  as  part  of  a  negligee 
costume.  I  have  seen  ancient  colored  silk 
nightcaps  richly  embroidered  in  colors  and 
gold  and  silver. 

Night-gown.     The  early  signification  of 
the  word  night-gown  was  much  the  meaning 
171 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


applied  at  present  to  the  word  dressing-gown. 
It  was  not  a  garment  worn  when  sleeping. 
We  have  a  very  good  description  of  a  night- 
gown from  the  pen  of  the  old  Duchess  of 
Marlborough,  who  ordered  such  a  garment 
from  Paris  : 

A  Night-gown  easy  and  warm,  with  a  light  silk 
wadd  in  it,  such  as  are  used  to  come  out  of  bed  and 
gird  round,  without  any  train  at  all,  but  very  full. 
Tis  no  matter  what  color,  except  pink  or  yellow — 
no  gold  or  silver  in  it  ;  but  some  pretty  striped  satin 
or  damask,  lined  with  a  tafetty  of  the  same  color. 

When  Madam  Usher  died  in  Boston  in 
1725,  her  wardrobe  was  sent  to  her  daughter 
in  London.  It  contained  one  satin  and  one 
silk  night-gown,  but  the  night  rails  were  of 
linen.  Men  had  velvet  night-gowns  with 
caps  to  match  of  the  same  material,  and 
fustian  night-gowns  also.  In  the  Boston 
Evening  Post,  in  1760,  ''  Men's  velvet  Night 
gown  Caps  "  are  advertised.  In  1754  a  law 
was  passed  by  the  Corporation  of  Harvard 
College  that  no  student  should  ''wear  any 
silk  night-gowns  as  being  not  only  an  un- 
necessary expense  but  inconsistent  with  the 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

gravity  and  demeanor  proper  to  be  observed. ' ' 
A  letter  written  to  the  New  England  Weekly 
Journal,  in  1727,  speaks  of  a  merchant  sit- 
ting **  in  his  Counting-house  wrap't  up  in  a 
CalHmanco  Night-gown."     See  Rail. 

None-so-Prettys.  About  the  year  1770 
there  began  to  appear  in  all  the  New  Eng- 
land newspapers  advertisements  of  *'  None- 
so-Prettys.  ' '  The  name  was  in  the  motley 
list  which  was  characteristic  of  the  times, 
and  which  gave  no  clew  to  the  character 
of  the  articles  offered  ;  hence  "  None-so- 
Prettys  "  might  be  ladies'  caps,  or  snuff- 
boxes, or  tailors'  goods.  Nor  do  American 
or  English  dictionaries  even  now  define  the 
word.  But  WiUiam  Scott,  of  the  Irish 
linen  store  in  Boston,  advertised  in  July, 
1 77 1,  '' None  -  so  -  Pretty  Tapes,"  and  in 
September,  1772,  the  Boston  Evening  Post 
contained  a  notice  of  the  sale  of  *  *  Blue  & 
white,  Red  &  white,  Green  &  white  Furni- 
ture checks  with  None-so-Prettys  to  match ; ' ' 
so  it  is  plain  that  None-so-Prettys  were  tapes. 
In  a  little  story  and  a  half  brick  shop  in 
Wickford,  R.  I.,  which  retained,  until  1886, 
173 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


all  the  goods  and  ways  of  a  village  shop  of 
the  early  part  of  the  century,  there  was  dis- 
plkyed,  among  boxes  of  half-melted,  coherent 
red  wafers,  sheets  of  fly-specked  foolscap 
paper,  strin.gs  of  purple  and  white  beads, 
cakes  of  adamantine  beeswax,  brass  tailors' 
thimbles,  sailors'  **  palms,"  and  other  relics 
of  past  decades,  a  box  labelled  '*  None- 
so-Prettys."  These  were  rolls  of  strong 
brown .  linen  braid  about  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  wide,  with  little  woven  figures,  white, 
red,  or  black  dots  or  diamonds.  And  from 
their  faded,  aged  appearance,  these  None-so- 
Pretty  survivors  might  well  have  been  cen- 
tenarians from  the  original  stock  of  William 
Scott  in  1 7  71. 

OzNABURG.  A  linen  spelled  ozenbridge, 
ossenbrigs,  osnabrug,  originally  -made  at 
Osnabriick,  Hanover,  and  universally  used 
for  shirts,  breeches,  and  jackets.  In  the 
Boston  News  Letter  of  June  19,  1704,  we 
read  of  a  runaway  slave's  wearing  off  **  Brown 
Ozenbridge  Jacket  and  Breeches."  A  large 
item  of  value  in  Sir  William  Pepperell's  or- 
ders to  England  were  ''  peeces  of  Ossen- 
174 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


brigs. ' '  In  the  Connecticut  Courant  of  De- 
cember II,  1775,  Mary  Jehonet  advertised 
*'Oznabrigs"  for  sale.  To  the  Southern 
colonies  it  was  sent  in  vast  bales,  and  was 
used  for  garments  for  the  slaves.  We  often 
find  George  Washington  writing  for  ''  ozen- 
brigs." 

Orrice.  a  kind  of  lace  or  gimp  trim- 
ming woven  with  gold  and  silver  thread. 
It  was  widely  used  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury as  a  trimming  for  handsome  sacques 
and  petticoats.  The  name  was  applied  at  a 
later  date  to  upholstery  gimps,  especially  for 
those  used  for  saddle  trimmings. 

Paduasoy.  a  rich  silk  of  smooth  sur- 
face, originally  made  at  Padua.  ''  The 
Best  Sort  Dutch  Paduasoys  ' '  were  adver- 
tised in  the  Boston  News  Letter  in  1727, 
and  in  other  newspapers  till  the  end  of  the 
century.  It  was  much  used  for  handsome 
gannents  for  men  and  women.  We  find 
Governor  Belcher  wTiting  in  1732  to  his 
London  tailor,  "  One  suit  to  be  a  very  good 
silk.  I  have  sometimes  thought  a  rich  dam- 
175 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


ask  would  do  well,  or  some  thick  silk,  but 
I  don't  like  padisway." 

Paragon.  A  stuff,  plain  or  embroid- 
ered, used  for  common  wear  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Madam  Pepys  had  a  para- 
gon petticoat  in  1659.  One  of  the  colonists 
left  a  *'  paragon  coat,"  and  one  of  the  Salem 
witches  wore  a  ''red  paragon  bodice."  It 
was  the  wear  of  country  folk.     We  read, 

Give  me  a  lass  that's  country  bred 

With  paragon  gown  ;  straw  hat  on  her  head. 

Partlet.  a  sort  of  neckerchief  or  neck- 
covering  for  women's  wear,  which  some- 
times was  made  full  like  a  shirt  and  worn 
under  a  bodice.  The  edge  around  the 
throat  was  frequently  plaited  or  ruffled. 
We  read  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's 
Knight  of  Malta y 

Unfledge  'em  of  their  tires, 
Their  wires,  their  partlets,  pins  and  periwigs. 

The  name  is  seen  but  rarely  in  early  colo- 
nial inventories. 

Patches.      In  the   Boston   Gazette  and 
Weekly  Journal,  of  1775,  **  Gum  Patches  " 
176 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


were  advertised,  and  after  1760  ''Face 
Patches"  and  "Patches  for  Ladies"  ap- 
pear with  such  frequency  that  we  can  be- 
lieve patched  faces  were  as  common  among 
Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia  belles, 
as  with  fashionable  London  court  dames. 
Whitefield  wrote  bitterly  and  indignantly  of 
the  jewels,  patches,  and  gay  apparel  worn  by 
New  England  women.  Still  I  have  seen  no 
portraits  of  New  Englanders  wearing  patches. 

Patch  Box.  With  all  the  advertisements 
of  face  patches,  there  could  not  fail  to  be 
notices  of  the  sale  of  patch  boxes.  The 
earliest  appears  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post 
of  July  17,  1763.  A  few  of  these  patch 
boxes  have  been  preserved  to  us — oval  or 
round  boxes  about  an  inch  and  a  half  or  two 
inches  in  diameter — pretty  little  trinkets  of 
Battersea  enamel  on  brass,  or  of  china  me- 
dallions set  in  silver  gilt,  or  of  tortoise  shell 
and  silver ;  always  with  a  tiny  mirror  or  disk 
of  polished  steel  set  within  the  lid,  that  in  it 
the  fair  and  vain  owner  might  peep  to  place 
or  rearrange  her  becoming  patches.  Fre- 
quently they  bear  on  the  top  little  posies : 
177 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


*'For  Beauty's  Face,"  *'To  the  Fairest  of 
her  Sex,"  "  When  Virtue  joins,  Fair  Beauty 
shines."  One  I  have  has  the  sensible  ad- 
vice, * '  Have  Communion  with  Few,  Be 
Familiar  with  One,  Deal  Justly  with  All, 
Speak  Evil  of  None."  Another  thus  re- 
proves, ''  Vanity's  a  Vice — a  foe  to  Virtue." 
Sometimes  they  have  the  likeness  of  a 
mincing  French  beauty  or  a  scene  with  a  tiny 
shepherdess,  or  a  little  design  of  dots  and 
rings,  or  festoons,  and  a  basket  of  flowers,  or 
two  hearts  with  a  connecting  arrow,  but  more 
frequently  a  verse  or  posy.  These  patch  boxes 
are  among  the  daintiest  relics  of  olden  times. 

Patten. 

The  Patten  now  supports  each  frugal  Dame 
That  from  the  blue-eyed  Patty  takes  the  name. 

—  Trivia. 

Fairholt  says  that  modern  pattens  date 
their  origin  to  the  time  of  Queen  Anne.  I 
find  Sewall,  in  the  time  of  William  and  Mary, 
referring  to  his  wife's  slipping  and  falling, 
through  her  being  on  pattens ;  and  Ben  Jon- 
son  says,  "  You  make  no  more  haste  than  a 
beggar  upon  pattens." 
178 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Pattens  were  iron  rings  four  or  five  inches 
in  diameter  supporting,  by  two  or  three  at- 
tached uprights,  a  sole  of  wood  to  be  fastened 
to  the  foot  by  leather  straps. 

Though  Dickens  speaks  in  David  Copper- 
field  oi^''  women  going  clicking  about  in  pat- 
tens," and  in  Crauford  we  read  of  their 
wear,  in  New  England  they  certainly  were 
not  frequently  worn  in  this  century  and  I 
have  never  found  a  pair  of  pattens  in  any  old 
New  England  home.  In  the  Boston  News 
Letters,  of  1721  and  1732,  ^'womens  and 
childrens  pattoons"  were  often  advertised, 
and  similar  notices  appear  in  the  newspapers 
until  Revolutionary  times.     See  Clogs  and 

GOLOSHOES. 

Peak.  From  the  connection  v.ith  sur- 
rounding items  in  advertisements,  peaks 
would  appear  to  be  pointed  caps  for  chil- 
dren's wear;  but  no  such  definition  is  as- 
signed in  any  dictionary.  This  is  hardly  a 
safe  inference  to  draw  from  the  notices  in 
colonial  papers,  for  most  heterogeneous  and 
incongruous  elements  go  to  form  a  whole ; 
and  peaks  might  be  toys  or  books  or  gowns 
179 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


or  shoes.  In  1737,  Sept.  29,  in  the  iVJfze; 
England  Weekly  Journal  appeared,  * 'Chil- 
dren's Quilted  Peaks  drawn  &  work'd ;  "  in 
the  Boston  News  Letter  in  1736,  **  Chil- 
dren's Silver  Peaks  &  Flowers,  Dutch  Pret- 
tys;  "  and  in  1740  a  similar  advertisement. 

Pelerine.  The  derivation  given  is  from 
pelerin,  a  pilgrim.  It  seems  much  more 
probable  that  it  is  from  pelured,  meaning  be- 
furred.  It  was  a  lady's  small  cape  with  long 
ends  hanging  in  front,  and  was  invented  to 
cover  the  necks  bared  by  the  low-cut  French 
bodices.  In  1743,  in  the  Boston  News  Let- 
ter, Henrietta  Maria  East  advertised  that 
''Ladies  may  have  their  Pellerines  made" 
at  her  mantua-making  shop.  In  1749  ''  pel- 
lerines ' '  were  advertised  for  sale  in  the  Bos- 
ton Gazette  and  a  black  velvet  "pillerine" 
was  lost.  In  the  New  York  papers  it  was 
usually  spelt  pillareen.  They  are  said  to 
have  been  invented  in  167 1  in  France  by  the 
Princess  Palatine. 

Penistone.  This  was  spelt  pennystone, 
peneston,  penystones,  penstow,    penesstons, 

x8o 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


penston,  and  the  goods  were  also  called 
<*  Forest  Whites."  It  was  a  coarse  woollen 
stuff  or  frieze  made  in  England  in  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  and  was 
much  used  for  coarse  garments  by  the  ear- 
liest planters.  Anne  Leverett,  of  Boston,  who 
died  in  1656,  bequeathed  a  ''  Read  pennisto 
petticoat"  to  her  heirs.  In  1659  another 
Boston  dame  bequeathed  to  each  of  her 
grandchildren  forty  shiUings  ''  in  kersey 
peniston  and  cotton."  Hull,  writing  abroad 
in  1672,  asks  for  "  red  penystoneand  flannel, 
no  such  red  cloth  as  you  sent  me. ' '  I  find  the 
name  used  till  1780  especially  in  the  South, 
and  very  frequently  specified  as  red,  and  at 
other  times  evidently  applied  to  red  flannel. 

Periwig.     See  Wig. 

Perpetuana.  More  frequently  spelt 
*'  ppetuna."  A  glossy  woollen  stuff  deriving 
its  name,  like  sempiternum  and  lasting,  from 
its  alleged  durable  nature.  It  much  re- 
sembled the  latter  named  fabric.  Bradford 
in  his  Plyjjiouth  Plantation  wrote,  '*  They 
had  diverse  kinds  as  cloth  perpetuanes  and 
z8i 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


other  stuffs. ' '  We  find,  by  a  letter  of  Gover- 
nor Endicott's,  that  twelve  yards  of  red  ppet- 
iina  were  worth  sixteen  shillings  in  1629.  In 
the  Boston  News  Letter  of  October  12,  1 7 1 1 , 
*VPerpets"  were  advertised,  which  were 
also  perpetuana. 

Persian.  A  thin  silk  chiefly  used  for 
cloak  and  hood  linings,  and  for  facings  for 
other  garments,  or  for  summer  wear.  In 
1737  Sir  William  Pepperell  ordered  from 
England  several  * '  ps  Blue  and  Red  Per- 
sian." It  was  offered  for  sale  in  New  Eng- 
land newspapers  throughout  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  only  mention  made  by  Judge 
Sewall  of  his  wife's  attire  is  when  he  speaks 
of  her  attending  church,  clad  in  her  *'  gown 
of  Sprig' d  Persian. ' ' 

Peruke.     See  Wig. 

Petticoat.  This  word  was  originally 
petty-coat,  literally  a  small  coat.  In  a 
tailor's  bill  are  these  items  : 

To  new  plaiting  a  petty  Coat,  \s.  td. 
"  sewing  "     "         "      6^. 

Judge  Sewall  wrote  it  *'  Petit  Coats." 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Of  course  this  world-wide  worn  garment 
was  donned  in  earliest  colonial  days,  and  the 
name  appears  in  every  list  and  inventory  of 
feminine  belongings.  **Red  Tamminy  and 
Moehaire  petticotes  ' '  had  Martha  Emmons 
of  Boston,  in  1666.  Susannah  Oxenbridge, 
wife  of  the  wealthy  Boston  minister,  had 
them  of  richer  material  —  ' '  changeable 
silke,"  *' Finest  tufted  Holland,"  and 
''  Blacke  Cloth. ' '  Elizabeth  Gedney  had  no 
less  than  thirteen  petticoats;  and  Dutch 
dames  counted  their  petticoats  their  richest 
belonging.  I  have  seen  the  inventory  of 
one  Dutch  woman's  wardrobe  that  contained 
sixteen  petticoats. 

Quilted  silk  petticoats  appeared  for  sale 
about  1720.  *' Women's  Sarsnet  Quilted 
Patticoats  4  yards  wide,  Persian  and  Taminy 
Ditto."  ''  Long  &  Short  Bone  Hoop  petti- 
coats ' '  are  advertised  in  the  Boston  Evening 

Fosto{  iT^2>- 

Of  course  when  the  open  sacques,  negli- 
gees and  poloneses  were  so  much  worn, 
and  the  petticoat  was  consequently  so  ex- 
posed to  view,  it  became  a  most  important 
and  costly  article  of  attire,  was  furbelowed, 
183 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


fringed,  festooned,  piiffed,  looped,  rosetted, 
flowered,  laced,  and  quilted  in  a  hundred 
different  fashions,  and  was  made  of  every 
rich  material. 

Philomot.     See  Filomot. 

Pilgrim.  A  cape  or  plaiting  of  thin  silk 
affixed  to  the  back  of  a  bonnet  to  shield  the 
wearer's  neck  when  out  of  doors.  It  was  in 
use  from  1760  to  1770. 

Pincushion.  Many  newspapers  contain 
notices  of  the  sale  of  ^'  pincushion  hoops  and 
chains."  Usually  they  are  printed  in  com- 
pany with  those  of  etuis  or  equipages,  and  I 
hence  infer  that  ladies  wore  these  swinging 
pincushions  at  their  sides  as  a  part  of  their 
chatelaines.  These  chains  w^ere  of  steel  and 
silver.  Dutch  housewives  constantly  wore 
them. 

Pins.     The  Pilgrim  mothers  brought  over 

pins  in  the  Mayflower,   but   not  in   lavish 

numbers.     I  find  at  a  very  early  date  that  a 

woman  was  excommunicated  for  ' '  suspitions 

184 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


of  stealing  pinnes;"  and  in  1643  ''Will 
Fancies  wife  "  was  tried  in  New  Haven  for 
stealing  five  thousand  pins.  Pins  were  worth 
at  that  time  is.  4^/.  a  thousand.  We  know, 
too,  what  important  instruments  they  proved 
in  the  tragedy  known  as  the  Salem  Witch- 
craft. Henry  M.  Brooks,  Esq. ,  of  the  Essex 
Institute  in  Salem,  has  made  a  collection  of 
pins  taken  from  old  documents  and  letters 
of  past  centuries.  He  has  some  which  date 
positively  to  within  a  few  years  of  the  time 
of  Salem  witches,  and  may  be  quite  as  old 
as  Ann  Putnam's  and  Giles  Corey's  day. 
' '  Pinns ' '  were  sent  to  John  Eliot  by  the 
Corporation  in  England  in  165 1.  In  the 
Boston  News  Letter  of  October,  171 1,  pins 
were  advertised  for  sale.  In  the  same  pub- 
lication of  May  6,  1717,  appeared  this  ad- 
vertisement of  what  was  apparently  a  Boston 
pinmaker,  * '  All  sorts  of  Pins  also  Black 
Pins  for  Mourning  Either  by  Wholesale  or 
Retail.  Brass  Wire  Large  &  Small.  Also 
any  Person  that  has  brass  wire  may  have 
money  for  it."  In  1737  Sir  William  Pep- 
perell  sent  to  England  for  ''40  shillings  in 
Pinnes  of  Different  Sizes."  In  1738  Ebe- 
18S 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


nezer  Waldo  advertised  that  he  '^  made  and 
sold  choice  Pins  of  all  Sorts  for  ready  money 
at  lowest  prices."  In  1744  they  came  *'  as- 
sorted in  small  boxes,"  and  though  '*  papers 
of  pins  of  two  sorts"  were  named,  these 
were  only  loose  pins  wrapped  in  papers,  not 
stuck  in  rows  in  paper  as  we  buy  them  now. 
By  1775  pins  began  to  have  names — *'  Pins 
No.  4  &  12,"  ''Durnford  Pins;"  and 
Harriot  Paine  at  the  Sign  of  the  Buck 
and  Glove  had  * '  corkins,  middlings,  short 
whites,  lillikins,  and  lace  pins.".  Others 
had  Lellicins  and  Lellokans,  which  were  all, 
I  fancy,  Mi-s.  Paine's  lillikins,  and  Pound 
Pins  and  Pocket  Brass  Pins.  In  June,  1783, 
appeared  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  the 
notice  of  Sheet  Pins,  which  were,  I  suppose, 
sold  stuck  in  sheets  like  our  modern  pins. 
We  find  George  Washington  ordering  pins 
from  England,  ''minikins,"  which  were  the 
smallest  size,  and  were  also  called  minifers. 

Pinners.  This  word  has  two  meanings. 
The  earlier  use  was  precisely  that  of  pina- 
fore, or  pincurtle,  or  pincloth — a  child's 
apron.     Thus  we  read  in  the  Harvard  Col- 

x86 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


lege  records,  of  the  expenses  of  the  year  1677, 
of  '^  linnen  Cloth  for  Table  Pinners,"  which 
makes  us  suspect  that  Harvard  students  of 
that  day  had  to  wear  bibs  at  commons. 
The  second  meaning  was  usually,  when  used 
in  the  plural,  a  woman's  head-dress  having 
long  tabs  or  lappets  that  hung  down  the 
sides  of  the  cheeks.  We  find  Governor 
Berkeley  of  Virginia  ordering,  ifi  1660,  **  i 
Yard  of  fine  Lace  for  a  piner,"  which  was 
to  cost  £1  I  ox.  In  the  Boston  News  Letter 
of  August,  1728,  a  runaway  slave-woman  was 
advertised  as  wearing  off  a  *'suit  of  Plain 
Pinners,"  which  was  probably  a  cap  or 
head-dress  without  the  streamers  or  lappets. 
In  1737  the  same  paper  advertised  ^^  Pinners 
or  Dresses  Just  Arrived  from  London  &  Set 
in  the  Pink  of  the  Mode." 

Plaster  Box.  A  box  in  which  medicinal 
plasters  were  carried.  It  not  only  formed 
part  of  the  outfit  of  physicians,  but  was  an 
ornamental  trinket  in  the  dressing-case  of 
gentlemen.  Thus  Isaac  Addington,  of  Bos- 
ton, who  died  in  17 13,  enumerated  **my 
plaister-box  ' '  among  his  silver. 
187 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Plush.  In  1695  Susannah  Oxenbridge 
left  a  *'  Plush  Gowne  "  to  her  parson's  wife. 
Plush  was  advertised  in  the  Boston  News 
Letter  of  October  22,  1711,  and  of  June  3, 
1740 — both  silk  and  **hair  and  worsted" 
plushes. 

Pockets. 

"  Lost  a  Pocket  with  a  worked  Handkerchief, 
part  of  the  Muslin  was  cut  off  &  the  Lawn  begfun 
to  be  sewed  to  the  Work.  There  was  a  green 
Purse  with  about  Five  Pounds  of  Silver  in  it  which 
the  Finder  is  very  welcome  to  if  he  will  bring  the 
Handkerchief  to  the  Printer." 

These  pockets  were  ornamental  bags,  which 
were  fastened  on  the  outside  of  the  gown. 
On  them  the  fair  wearer  spent  much  time 
and  skill.  Elaborate  designs  in  cross-stitch 
on  canvas,  bead  and  bugle  work  on  velvet, 
are  shown  on  these  old  pockets.  The  old 
song,  ''Lucy  Locket  lost  her  pocket,"  be- 
comes easily  comprehensible  when  we  see 
these  old-fashioned  bags  of  pockets,  which 
were  wholly  detached  from  the  gown. 

They  were  apparently  sometimes  made  in 
pairs ;  as  several  ''  pairs  of  pockets  "  formed 
part  of  Madam  Usher's  wardrobe. 
188 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Points.  Points  were  ties  or  laces  of  rib- 
bon, or  woollen  yarn,  or  leather,  decorated 
with  tags,  or  aiglets  at  one  end.  They 
were  employed  instead  of  buttons  in  secur- 
ing clothes,  and  were  used  only  by  the  ear- 
liest settlers,  and  in  New  England,  I  think, 
solely  as  ornaments  at  the  knee  or  for  hold- 
ing up  the  stockings.  They  were  there  re- 
garded as  but  foolish  vanities,  and  were  one 
of  the  articles  of  finery  tabooed  in  early 
sumptuary  laws.  In  165 1  the  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts  expressed  its  ' '  utter  detes- 
tation and  dislike  that  men  of  meane  con- 
dition, education  and  calling  should  take 
upon  them  the  garbe  of  gentlemen  by  the 
wearinge  of  poynts  at  the  knees."  We 
learn  from  the  accounts  of  John  Pyncheon 
in  1653  that  *' 3  yds.  garty  points"  were 
worth  sixpence.  These  must  have  been 
cotton  points.  In  the  southern  colonies 
silken  points  were  worn.  Justinian  Snow,  of 
St.  Marys,  Md.,  bought,  in  1639,  twenty- 
four  dozen  silk  points  worth  nine  shillings  a 
dozen.     These  were  probably  of  rich  ribbon. 

PoLONESE.     Fairholt  says  it  was  '*  a  light 
189 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


open  gown  which  came  into  fashion  about 
1770  and  was  worn  looped  at  the  sides  and 
traiHng  behind."  This  date  must  be  en- 
tirely wrong.  In  November,  1755,  *'  Cardi- 
nals &  Polonees  ' '  were  advertised  in  the  Bos- 
ton Evening  Post.  In  September,  1756,  in 
the  same  paper,  **  Figured  Satin  Dauphiness 
Cloaks  &  Polonese  &  Capuchins  ;  "  and  in 
1758,  '^  Collored  PuUanees."  Of  course 
they  must  have  been  worn  in  England  much 
earlier  than  in  the  New  World.  The  gar- 
ment is  said  to  have  been  so  called  from  a 
Polish  article  of  dress,  and  has  at  varying 
intervals  been  in  vogue  up  to  the  present  day. 
We  can  gain  some  idea  of  the  shape  of  an 
early  polonese  from  the  pages  of  the  English 
Lady's  Magazine.  In  1774  it  announced 
that  . 

Lady  Tufnell  has  the  genteelest  fancy  in  an  un- 
dress now  in  London.  ^She  chiefly  wears  a  white 
Persian  gown  and  coatonade  of  Irish  polonese  and 
covered  with  white  or  painted  spotted  gauze  which  is 
very  much  the  taste.  The  Irish  polonese  is  made 
very  becoming ;  it  buttons  half  down  the  arm,  no 
ruffles,  quite  straight  in  the  back,  and  buttons  down 
before  and  flies  off  behind,  till  there  is  nothing  but  a 
kind  of  role  behind  except  the  petticoat ;  a  large 
190 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


hood  behind  the  neck  ;  short  black  and  white  laced 
aprons  or  painted  gauze. 

It  was  also  asserted  in  the  same  period- 
ical, in  1776,  that  the  Italian  polonese  was 
**much  the  most  smart  and  becoming." 

Pomander.  A  pomander  was  derivative- 
ly a  little  ornamental  pouncet-box  of  metal 
— usually  silver,  pierced  with  holes.  In  it 
was  placed  a  ball  of  spices  and  scents. 
Through  the  holes  the  sweet  perfume  es- 
caped. The  pomander  was  sometimes  swung 
at  the  side,  but  more  frequently  carried  in 
the  hand.  The  word  pomander  was  origi- 
nally applied  to  the  spice-ball,  and  not  to  its 
inclosing  box.  The  composition  of  a  po- 
mander was  thus  given  :  ''  Your  only  way 
to  make  a  good  pomander  is  this  :  Take  an 
ounce  of  the  purest  garden  mould  cleans' d 
&  steeped  seven  days  in  change  of  mother- 
less rose  water,  then  take  the  best  labdanum, 
benjoin,  both  storaxes,  ambergris,  civit  & 
musk.  Incorporate  them  together  and  work 
them  into  what  form  you  please." 

Pompon.     The    London     Magazine,     of 
1748,    described    a    '^pong-pong"    (which 
191 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


was  a  pompon)  as  ''  the  ornament  worn  by 
the  ladies  in  the  middle  of  the  forepart  of 
their  headdresses.  Their  figures,  size,  and 
compositions  are  various,  such  as  butterflies, 
feathers,  tinsel,  cockcomb,  lace,  &c."  In 
a  poem  of  same  date  I  find  this  line,  "  A 
flower  vulg.  diet,  a  pompoon."  In  1752 
Elizabeth  Murray  had  ' '  pompeons  ' '  for 
sale  in  Boston.  In  November,  1755,  in  a 
rich  invoice  of  fashionable  novelties,  came 
**  Chinese  pampoons,"  and  a  little  later 
* '  pomparoons  ;  "  so  New  England  dames 
were  not  one  whit  behind  English  ones  in 
the  wear  of  the  article,  though  possibly  a 
little  so  in  the  spelling  of  it.  Pompons  were 
worn  in  Virginia  and  South  Carolina. 

Prunella.  A  stuff  like  lasting.  Gov- 
ernor Endicott,  of  Salem,  left  prunella  by 
will  in  1663.  Susannah  Oxenbridge,  who 
died  in  Boston  in  1695,  left  a  *' Blacke 
Prunella  Gowne  and  Petticoat." 

By  1740  it  was  largely  used  for  the  manu- 
facture of  women's  shoes,  and  in  1772  we 
find  "  Strong  rich  black  silk  and  Hair  Pni- 
nella  for  Clergymens  Coats  and  Waistcoats," 
19a 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


and  to  women's  shoes  and  clergymen's  waist- 
coats and  gowns  it  has  since  been  relegated. 

Pumps.     New  England  dandies  wore,  as 
did  Monsieur  A-Ia-mode : 

A  pair  of  smart  pumps  made  up  of  graiii'd  leather, 
So  thin  he  cant  venture  to  tread  on  a  feather. 

And  not  dandies  only,  but  servants.  A 
runaway  negro  slave  was  advertised  in  the 
Boston  News  Letter  of  1726  as  wearing  off 
a  "Pair  of  Pumps  with  Silver  Buckles;  " 
and  Indians  had  "  Peaked  To'd  Turn'd 
Pumps  with  white  metal  Buckles."  Gover- 
nor Belcher's  negro  Juba  ran  off  shod  in  ''  a 
pair  of  trimmed  Pumps  with  a  very  large 
jDair  of  Flowered  Buckles."  If  these  pumps 
were  as  thin-soled  as  modern  pumps,  the 
wearers  could  not  have  run  far.  Women 
also  wore  pumps,  made  of  morocco,  lasting, 
and  prunella ;  some  pumps  were  double- 
channelled  and  turned ;  and  children's 
pumps  came  to  Boston  and  Hartford  mar- 
kets. 

Purl.    A  species  of  edging  for  ruffs,  ruffles, 
cuffs,  etc.     Mrs.   Palliser  says  it  is  difficult 
193 


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to  exactly  define  the  difference  between  lace 
and  purl.  We  read  of  "  fine  piirle  to  set  on 
a  pinner. ' '  Wait  Winthrop  sent  several  times 
pieces  of  purle  to  his  nieces  at  New  London 
about  the  year  1690. 

Qualities.  A  coarse  binding  tape  ad- 
vertised in  the  Virginia  Gazette,  the  Charles- 
ton Gazette,  and  New  England  papers  in 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  name  is  still 
in  use. 

Queen's  Nightcap.     See  Cap. 

Queue.  EHzabeth  Cutter  had,  in  1663, 
"six  neck-clothes  and  six  quieues  "  worth 
four  shillings.  Jane  Humphrey,  in  1668, 
named  together  "  one  of  my  best  neck- 
cloths and  one  of  my  plain  quieues." 
These  were  evidently  not  the  cues  or  wig- 
tails  of  the  succeeding  century,  but  were  a 
neck  covering.  I  do  not  find  the  name,  in 
the  latter  signification,  in  use  after  1680. 

QuiFE.     See  Coif. 

QuoiFE.     See  Coif. 
194 


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Rabato.  Also  spelt  rebate  and  rebatine. 
A  falling  collar  or  band  turned  over  upon  the 
shoulders.  "  Stiff-necked  rebatoes  that  have 
arches  for  pride  to  row  under. ' '  The  word 
was  apparently  used  to  distinguish  any 
turned-down  collar  from  a  standing  ruff,  and 
was  rarely  used  in  America. 

Rail.  The  fashion  of  wearing  ' '  immod- 
erate great  rayles  "  was  prohibited  by  law  in 
Massachusetts  in  1634.  The  garment  at  that 
date  must  have  been  a  woman's  loose  gown 
or  sacque  worn  in  the  daytime,  for  we  cannot 
imagine  even  the  meddlesome  Massachusetts 
magistrates  would  dai-e  to  attempt  to  order 
what  kind  of  a  nightgown  a  woman  should 
wear.  But  the  name  quickly  was  applied  to 
a  night  garment.  We  read  in  a  Boston  news- 
paper of  the  loss  of  a  '*  flowered  callico  night- 
rail  with  high  collared  neck;  "  and  in  in- 
ventories where  cloth  and  velvet  nightgowns 
appear,  the  rails  are  of  linen  and  calico,  thus 
proving  it  a  garment  worn  when  sleeping.  I 
have  seen  the  words  bed-coat,  and  bed-gown, 
and  bed-waistcoat  used  instead  of  night- 
rail.     See  Nightgown. 

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Ramilies.     See  Wig. 

Ranelagh  Mob.     See  Cap. 

Rash.  A  loose-meshed  silk  or  wool  stuff 
of  inferior  quality.  We  find  one  colonist 
complaining  that,  having  sent  to  England  for 
fine  Spanish  broadcloths  at  17  shillings  a 
yard,  he  was  sent  nothing  but  cloth  rash 
worth  9  shillings  a  yard  ;  and  another  wrote, 
in  1698:  "Black  Rashes  are  not  Vendable 
here."  In  1655  Robert  Daniell,  of  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  had  a  "  black  Sut  of  Rash  " 
worth  a  pound.  It  was  evidently  a  stuff  of 
smooth  surface,  for  Donne,  in  his  '^  Satires ^^ 
wrote : 

Sleeveless  his  jerkin  was,  and  it  had  been 
Velvet,  but  'twas  now  (so  much  ground  was  seen) 
Become  Tufftaffaty  ;  and  our  children  shall 
See  it  plain  Rash  awhile,  then  nought  at  all. 

Ratteen.  A  heavy  stuff  resembling 
drugget,  advertised  in  March,  1748,  in  the 
Boston  Independent  Advertiser.  Rattinet, 
also  frequently  imported,  was  a  similar  stuff, 
somewhat  thinner. 

Rayl.     See  Rail. 

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Rebatine.     See  Rabato. 

Ribbon.  '  *  Silken  ribens ' '  were  of  enough 
account  in  early  days  to  be  left  by  will,  and 
denounced  among  superfluities  by  the  Con- 
necticut magistrates.  They  were  a  favorite 
gift  on  St.  Valentine's  Day.  Among  the 
ribbons  advertised  in  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  were  paduasoy  ribbons, 
love  ribbons,  Dettingen  ribbons,  Prussian 
ribbons,  silvered  ribbons,  and  in  1767,  in  the 
Newport  Mercury,  liberty  ribbons. 

Riding  petticoat.     See  Safeguard. 

Ring.  Finger-rings  were  not  rare  at  the 
date  of  the  settlement  of  the  New  World,  and 
the  early  colonists,  who  were  men  of  dignity 
and  position,  nearly  all  possessed  them,  as 
did  all  well-to-do  and  dignified  Englishmen. 
In  the  earliest  colonial  wills  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  that  have  been  preserved  to 
us  in  court  records  and  in  private  deposito- 
ries we  find  frequent  mention  of  them — 
usually,  however,  mourning  rings. 

Rings  were  given  at  funerals,  especially  in 
wealthy  famihes,  to  relatives  and  to  persons 
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of  note,  wealth,  or  public  office  in  the  com- 
munity. Sewall  records  in  his  diary,  in  the 
years  from  1687  to  1725,  the  gift  of  no  less 
than  fifty -seven  mourning  rings.  The  story 
is  told  of  Doctor  Samuel  Buxton,  of  Salem, 
Mass., — who  died  in  1758,  aged  eighty-one 
years, — that  he  left  to  his  heirs  a  quart  tank- 
ard full  of  mourning  rings  which  he  had  re- 
ceived at  funerals.  At  one  Boston  funeral, 
in  1738,  over  two  hundred  rings  were  given 
away.  At  Waitstill  Winthrop's  funeral  sixty 
rings,  worth  over  a  pound  apiece,  were  given 
to  his  relatives  and  friends.  Often  fifty  or 
a  hundred  rings  would  be  given  at  a  minis- 
ter's or  domine's  funeral. 

These  mourning  rings  were  of  gold, 
usually  enamelled  in  black.  They  were  fre- 
quently decorated  with  a  death's  -  head  or 
a  coffin  with  a  skeleton  lying  in  it,  or  a 
winged  skull.  Often  they  held  a  framed  lock 
of  hair  of  the  deceased  friend.  Sometimes 
the  ring  was  shaped  like  a  serpent  with  his 
tail  in  his  mouth.  Many  bore  a  posy.  In 
the  Boston  News  Letter,  of  October  30, 
1742,  was  advertised  :  **  Mourning  Ring  lost 
with  the  Posy  Virtue  &  Love  is  From  Above. ' ' 
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A  favorite  motto  was  :  ''  Death  parts  United 
Hearts."  Others  bore  the  legend:  ''Pre- 
pare for  Death;"  another,  **  Prepared  be 
to  follow  me."  Some  funeral  rings  bore  a 
family  crest  in  black  enamel. 

Goldsmiths  kept  these  mourning  rings 
constantly  on  hand.  ''  Deaths  Heads 
Rings"  and  '*  Burying  Rings"  appear  in 
many  newspaper  advertisements.  The  name 
or  initials  of  the  dead  person  and  the  date 
of  his  death  were  engraved  upon  the  ring 
to  order.     This  was  called  fashioning. 

It  is  very  evident  that  the  colonists 
looked  with  much  eagerness  to  receiving  a 
funeral  ring  at  the  death  of  a  friend ;  and  in 
old  diaries,  almanacs,  and  note-books  such 
entries  as  this  are  often  seen  :  "  Made  a  ring 
at  the  funeral,"  "  A  Death's-head  ring  made 
at  the  funeral  of"  so  and  so.  The  will  of 
Abigal  Ropes,  in  1775,  gives  to  her  grand- 
son *'a  gold  ring  I  made  at  his  father's 
death;"  and  again,  ^' a  gold  ring  made 
when  my  bro.  died." 

I  do  not  know  how  long  the  custom  of 
giving  funeral  rings  obtained  in  America. 
Some   are    in    existence    dated    181 2,    but 
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were  given  at  the  funeral  of  aged  persons, 
who  may  have  left  orders  to  their  descend- 
ants to  cling  to  the  fashion  of  their  youth. 

A  very  good  collection  of  mourning  rings 
may  be  seen  at  the  rooms  of  the  Essex  Insti- 
tute, in  Salem,  and  that  society  has  also 
published  a  pamphlet,  written  by  Mr.  Cur- 
win,  giving  a  list  of  mourning  rings  known 
to  be  in  existence  in  Salem. 

Wedding  rings  were  seldom  named  in 
New  England  inventories.  Jane  Humph- 
reys, of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  had  one  in  1667. 
Mather  said  the  Puritans  made  no  use  of 
rings  at  weddings  ;  and  one  writer  said  they 
thought  rings  "  a  Relique  of  Popery  and  a 
DiaboUicall  Circle  for  the  Divell  to  daunce 
in." 

Robert  Keayne,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Bos- 
ton, was  an  early  owner  of  what  was  called  a 
*<  stoned  ring."  He  left,  in  1653,  a  *' Great 
Gold  Emerod  Ring,"  which  seems  to  still 
shed,  with  its  great  capital  letters,  a  richly 
glittering  green  light.  Other  colonists  had 
handsome  rings  ;  Parson  John  Wilson  left,  in 
1688,  a  *'gold  ring  with  seal  &  an  Enamelled 
ring."     Governor  Endicott's  portrait  has  a 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


handsome  ring  on  the  little  finger.  A  ring 
presented  to  a  member  of  the  Winthrop 
family  by  Charles  I.  played  an  important 
part  in  history  when  re-presented  to  Charles 
II.  by  a  New  England  Winthrop.  Major 
John  Pyncheon,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  had 
'' 6  gold  rings  and  i  Rubie  ring."  Mrs. 
De  Lange,  of  New  York,  had  two  great 
diamond  rings.  Governor  Caleb  Carr,  of 
Providence,  R.  I.,  named  in  his  will  in 
1693,  *'  Three  gold  Rings,  my  Seal  ring  and 
the  gold  ring  I  now  weare  commonly  called 
hand  in  hand  &  heart  between."  The  lat- 
ter form  of  ring  was  fashionable  for  many 
years.  I  have  often  seen  references  to 
** heart  and  hand  rings." 

Parson  John  Oxenbridge  died  in  Boston 
in  1673.  Though  he  bemoaned  his  strait- 
ened circumstances,  he  owned  and  bequeath- 
ed "  2  Carnelian  Rings,  i  Ring  beset  with 
Blew  Specks.  [To  his  daughter  Theodorah, 
who  married  Parson  Thatcher.]  My  gold 
Ring  with  her  name  in  it.  My  green  Emer- 
aud  Ring  with  Diamond  Sparks,  and  a  Dia- 
mond Ring."  He  also  left  ''A  White 
Amethyst  Ring.     A  Dozen  Mourning  Rings. 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


A  Scale  Ringe."  All  these  save  the  latter 
were  left  to  his  daughters  ;  but  his  widow, 
Susannah,  must  have  had  a  pretty  store  of 
her  own ;  for  at  her  decease  in  1695,  she  left 
a  ring  to  nearly  every  minister  in  Boston. 
*'  My  diamond  ring"  to  Mr.  Allen,  and  a 
gold  ring  to  his  wife;  a  ring  to  Joshua 
Moody ;  an  emerald  ring  and  gold  ring  to 
still  another  parson  —  ten  rings  in  all. 
When  Judith  Sewall  was  betrothed,  her 
lover  gave  her  a  **  stoned  ring,  a  fan  and  a 
noble  letter,"  yet  I  find  no  definite  notices 
of  a  fixed  fashion  of  ''betrothal  rings." 
Cotton  Mather  was  given  a  ring  by  the 
University  of  Glasgow,  bearing  the  legend, 
''Glascua  rigavit ;"  and  Judge  Sewall 
made  frequent  gifts  of  rings  to  friends,  al- 
ways with  appropriate  Latin  mottoes. 

As  years  passed  on,  advertisements  ap- 
peared in  the  newspapers  of  rings  lost,  rings 
found,  rings  for  sale.  *'  Fine  diamond  rings, 
stoned  rings,  fashionable  heart  rings,  carnel- 
ian  rings,  and  mociis  rings." 

In  the  estate  of  one  Jacobs,  which  was  con- 
fiscated by  a  witch-hunting  Salem  sheriff  in 
1692,  was  '*  one  Large  Goold  Thumb  Ring 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


worth  twenty  shillings;"  and  in  1729  the 
New  England  Weekly  Journal  advertised 
a  large  thumb-ring  picked  up  in  Rumney 
Marsh. 

RoBiNGS.  Round  robins  or  robings  were 
narrow  ruffs  about  the  collar  or  neck  of  the 
gown.  I  find  them  usually  offered  for  sale 
with  cuffs  and  frequently  also  with  stomach- 
ers. In  1 75 1,  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post, 
were  named  '  *  a  Variety  of  Robins  &  Cuffins 
fer  Gowns."  By  June,  1753,  Harriot  Paine 
had  ''Snail  Bugle  &  Silver  Facings  & 
Robings  for  the  Ladies"  for  sale.  Then 
came  ' '  Bugle  Cuffings  Robings  &  Stomach- 
ers. ' ' 

Rocket.  I  think  no  better  description 
of  a  rocket  can  be  given  than  that  of  Celia 
Fiennes  : — 

You  meete  all  sorts  of  countrywomen  wrapped  up 
in  the  mantles  called  West  Country  Rockets,  a  large 
mantle  doubled  together,  of  a  sort  of  serge,  some 
are  linsey-woolsey  and  a  deep  fringe  or  fag  at  the 
lower  end  ;  these  hang  down,  some  to  their  feet, 
some  only  just  below  the  waist ;  in  the  summer  they 
are  all  in  white  garments  of  this  sort,  in  the  winter 
they  are  in  red  ones. 

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These  English  rockets  were  brought  over 
by  many  a  Devonshire  or  Cornish  woman  to 
New  England.     They  were  also  spelt  rochet. 

ROQUELAURE. 

"  Within  the  Roquelaures  Clasp  thy  arms  are  pent 
Hands  that  stretch't  forth  Invading  Harms  prevent." 

In  A  Treatise  on  the  Modes ^  1715?  ^ 
roquelaure  is  said  to  be  a  "  short  abridge- 
ment or  compendium  of  a  cloak,  which  is 
dedicated  to  the  Duke  of  Roquelaure." 
These  garments  were  worn .  by  both  men 
and  women.  The  first  mention  I  have 
chanced  to  see  of  one  in  New  England  is  in 
the  Boston  News  Letter  in  1730,  when  one 
of  Boston's  citizens  lost  his  *'  Blue  Cloak  or 
Roculo  with  Gold  Buttons."  Sir  William 
Pepperell,  who  was  a  little  shaky  in  his 
spelling,  but  possibly  no  more  so  than  his 
neighbors,  sent  in  1737  from  Piscataqua  to 
one  Hooper  in  England  for  *'  A  Handsom 
Rockolet  for  my  daughter  of  about  1 5  yrs. 
old,  or  what  is  ye  Most  Newest  Fashion 
for  one  of  her  age  to  ware  at  meeting  in  ye 
Wint'  Season."  From  1736  to  1764  ap- 
peared, in  the  Boston  News  Letter  and  Bos- 
ton 


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ton  Evening  Post,  such  advertisements  as 
these  :  ''  Cloth  &  Silk  Roqualos,"  ''  Camb- 
lets  for  Roquelos  of  a  peculiar  color  &  Fa- 
brick.  ' '  The  following  roquelaures  were  all 
lost  by  careless  folk:  "  Light  colour' d  cloth 
Roccelo  that  has  a  Double  Cape;  "  ''Blue 
Drab  Roquelo  napp'd  within,  has  two  capes 
to  it ;  "  ''  The  person  who  borrowed  some 
time  since  a  Light  colour' d  Roquello  of  Mr. 
Richard  Billings  on  the  Town  Dock  is  de- 
sired immediately  to  return  the  same  to 
him."  It  may  be  noted  that  the  correct 
spelling — roqnelaure — is  never  once  hit  upon 
in  all  these  liberal  variations. 

The  variety  of  colors  and  materials  de- 
scribed as  worn  in  these  outdoor  garments 
give  one  a  vivid  idea  of  the  gay  appearance 
of  town  streets  in  New  England  throughout 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  I  do 
not  find  any  universal  use  of  the  word  in 
the  South. 

Roses.     See  Shoes. 

Ruff.       We     usually     associate     bands, 
straight  or  falling,  with  the  stiff-necked  Puri- 
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tans  ;  but  ruffs  were  occasionally  worn. 
The  portrait  of  Winthrop  shows  a  very  neat- 
ly plaited  one ;  and  he  left  fourteen  * '  ruffes  ' ' 
by  will.  The.  portrait  alleged  to  be  that 
of  Miles  Standish,  and  dated  1625,  shows 
also  a  ruff  of  fine  proportions. 

Ruffles.  When  Richard  Richbell,  of 
Boston,  died  in  1682,  he  had  seven  pair  of 
ruffles  and  ribbons  worth  seven  pounds. 
Ruffles  on  shirt-fronts  and  at  wrists  did  not 
go  out  of  fashion  for  Boston  beaux  for  a 
century  after  Richbell's  death.  In  1755 
''Flowered  Lawn  Ruffles"  and  "Lace  & 
Millinet  for  Gentlemens  Ruffles  ' '  were  ad- 
vertised ;  and  the  following  year  treble  ruf- 
fles. Many  portraits  of  this  date  show  bosom- 
ruffles.  Thomas  Hutchinson's  fine  waist-coat 
has  a  ruffle  from  extreme  top  to  bottom. 
The  wrist-ruffles  of  Thomas  Boylston's  por- 
trait (about  1760)  nearly  cover  his  hand. 
The  portrait  of  Peter  Fanueil  shows  him  in 
velvet  ruffles. 

RussEL.    A  woollen  cloth  like  baize  much 
used   in   New   England.      It   had   a  close- 
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grained  twill  and  was  very  durable.  Manu- 
factured originally  of  various  weights,  and 
made  into  various  garments,  it  finally  seemed 
to  be  assigned  wholly  to  the  manufacture  of 
women's  and  children's  shoes.     See  Shoes. 

Sacque.  Fairholt  says  the  sacque  was  a 
woman's  garment  introduced  into  England 
about  the  year  1740.  This  date  seems  to  be 
widely  incorrect,  since  Madam  Pepys  had 
^'a  French  gown  called  a  Sac"  in  1669. 
The  sacque  worn  during  the  .last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  a  flowing  garment 
open  in  front,  and  sometimes  drawn  away  in 
loops  or  plaits  on  each  side.  It  hung  loose 
from  the  shoulders  to  the  ground  in  great 
folds  over  the  hooped  petticoat,  and  was  uni- 
versally worn  by  fashionable  dames  in  old 
England  and  New  England,  and  probably 
in  the  Southern  colonies.  In  1751  there 
were  advertised  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post 
*'  white  calico  with  work'd  sprigs  for  sacks," 
and  "Rich  Tobine  &  tissues  for  men  & 
women's  wear,  chiefly  Gowns  and  Sacks  & 
worn  mostly  by  the  Gentry  in  England  and 
France."  The  following  year  EHzabeth 
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Murray  had  for  sale  in  Boston  ''Izavees 
Moorees  &  Humphumps  for  Sacks ; ' '  and  a 
little  later,  "a  large  Sortment  of  Cloth  col- 
oured trimmings  for  Ladys  sacks. "  In  1 758 
was  lost  a  "Blue  Damask  Sack  Gown  with 
Close  Cuifs  laid  with  White  Stuff  most  to  the 
top. "  At  a  sale  of  a  "  great  variety  of  wom- 
ens  apparel"  in  Boston,  in  August,  1774, 
were  twelve  rich  sacks  and  petticoats.  In 
the  Receipt  for  Modern  Dress,  written  at 
that  time,  we  read  : 

Let  your  gown  be  a  sacque,  blew,  yellow  or  green, 
And  frizzle  your  elbows  with  ruffles  sixteen. 

The  fashionable  colors  for  sacques  in  1774 
were  **new  palish  blue  or  dark  lilac  satin." 
They  were  trimmed  down  the  sides  with 
chenille  or  blonde  lace,  often  put  on  in  waves 
or  furbelows,  and  sometimes  were  richly 
lined.  The  fashionable  materials  were 
striped  satin  or  tobine,  but  almost  all  other 
light  silks  or  stuffs  were  used. 

Safeguard.  The  significant  name  of  an 
outside  petticoat  of  heavy  woollen  or  linen 
stuff,  worn  by  women  over  other  garments 
to  protect  them  from  mud  and  mire,  while 

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the  wearer  rode  on  horseback.  This  was, 
of  course,  before  the  advent  of  the  riding- 
habit.  In  the  year  1600  Queen  Elizabeth 
had  thirty -one  cloaks  and  safeguards,  thirteen 
safeguards,  and  forty-three  jupes  and  safe- 
guards. New  England  women  were  usually 
satisfied  with  one  apiece.  In  1654  Ellinor 
Tresler,  of  Salem,  left  by  will  her  "  Sad  col- 
lered  Cloake,  Wascote,  Safeguard  &  Gouene 
to  goe  together  " — an  outfit  such  as  we  read 
of  in  the  Noble  Gentlema7i,  ''  your  safe- 
guard, cloak  and  your  hood  suitable." 
Governor  Winthrop  sent  a  ''gown,  peticote 
and  saveguard "  to  his  granddaughter  in 
Stamford  in  1648.  The  name  was  used  in 
England  until  this  century ;  the  garment  is 
still  worn  there  by  farmers'  wives  ;  but  I 
do  not  find  it  referred  to  in  New  England 
after  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Ann  Warder  wrote  of  the  Quaker  women  of 
Pennsylvania  in  1786:  ''They  are  very 
shiftable  ;  they  ride  by  themselves  with  a 
safeguard,  which,  when  done  with  is  tied  to 
the  saddle  and  the  horse  hooked  to  a  rail 
standing  all  meeting  time  as  still  as  their 
riders  sit." 

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Other  names  for  a  safeguard  were  foot- 
mantle,  as  Chaucer  wrote,  and  weather- 
skirt.  And  the  ''Manchester  riding  petti- 
coat" seized  by  a  Philadelphia  sheriff  in 
1760  was  a  safeguard. 

Sagathy.  Among  ''  All  Sorts  of  Winter 
Goods"  advertised  in  the  Boston  Neu>s 
Letter  of  December  15,  17 15,  appear  sag- 
gathies.  In  other  notices  it  is  spelt  saga- 
thees.  It  was  a  woollen  stuff  used  chiefly 
for  men's  garments,  and  was  said  to  be  very 
durable.  We  read  of  a  Philadelphia  run- 
away in  1752  wearing  off  *' a  light  cloth- 
colour' d  Sagathy  coat  lined  with  Lead 
colour'd  AUapine. " 

Samare.  This  garment  was  said  by 
Randle  Holme  to  be  a  sort  of  jacket  for 
women's  wear,  with  four  tails  or  side  laps 
reaching  to  the  knee.  Under  various  spell- 
ings— somar,  simarre,  simar,  samarra,  cimar, 
cymarre,  and  chymarre — it  was  applied  to 
various  over  garments ;  and  in  a  poetical 
sense,  as  by  Scott  in  Ivanhoey  to  a  loose, 
flowing  robe.  Its  original  meaning  was  a 
aio 


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sanbenito,  or  garment  worn  to  execution  by 
persons  condemned  by  the  Inquisition. 

The  garment,  called  a  somar  in  the  Sa- 
lem tailor's  bill,  given  on  page  21,  was  a 
samare.  I  find  the  word  used  in  New  York 
in  1662,  in  the  inventory  given  on  page 
26  of  the  rich  wardrobe  of  the  widow  of 
Dr.  Jacob  De  Lange.  She  had  one  sil^ 
potoso-a-samare  with  lace  worth  ^^3 ;  on^ 
tartanel  samare  with  tucker  worth  jQi  10s.; 
one  black  silk  crape  samare  with  tucker 
worth  ;£i  10s.]  and  three  flowered  calico 
samaras  worth  ^£2  10s.  As  these  samares 
were  enumerated  with  the  petticoats,  and  as 
no  other  jackets  or  doublets  are  named,  it  is 
evident  that  they  were  worn  over  the  rich 
petticoats,  and  they  were  of  materials  of  va- 
rious weights  for  summer  and  winter  use. 
In  a  Dutch  dictionary,  published  in  Am- 
sterdam in  1735,  a  samare  is  defined  simply 
as  a  woman's  gown. 

Sarcanet.  This  thin  but  firm  silk,  used 
under  the  same  name  to  the  present  day, 
was  made  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century, 
and   was   also   called   sendal.     It  was   also 


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spelt  sarsnet,  scarsonett,  and  sarsinet,  and  was 
much  used  for  cloak  linings  and  for  hoods,  and 
appears  in  all  lists  of  milliners  and  mercers. 

Say.  Originally  a  silk  material — sole. 
Spenser  says  :  "  His  garment  neither  was  of 
silke  nor  say. ' '  It  came  at  a  later  date  to 
^be  applied  to  a  thin  worsted  stuff.  Benja- 
min Franklin  enumerated  say  with  woollen 
stuffs,  such  as  cloth,  kerseys,  serges,  friezes, 
etc.  I  find  ''  black  Sudbury  Say  "  adver- 
tised in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  as  late  as 
July,  1768;  and  say  appears  also  in  the 
earliest  New  England  inventories;  twelve 
yards  of  green  say  were  worth  one  pound 
and  thirteen  shillings  in  1629. 

Scallop.  Pepys  wrote  in  1662  :  ''  Made 
myself  fine  with  Capt.  Ferrer's  lace  band, 
being  lothe  to  mar  my  own  new  Scallop,  it 
is  so  fine."  In  a  Maryland  trial  at  about 
that  same  date,  the  washing  of  a  certain  lace 
scallop  bore  an  important  part ;  but  the  word 
was  rarely  used  in  the  colonies.  A  scallop 
was,  as  its  name  indicates,  a  collar  or  band 
scalloped  on  the  edge. 


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Scarf.  An  article  of  dress  worn  by  men 
and  women,  and  forbidden  to  poor  folk  in 
Connecticut  in  1676.  Old  Major  Pyncheon 
had,  in  1703,  a  *'  Trooping  Scarff  with  Goold 
Lace"  worth  ;^3  loi-.  Furbelowed  scarfs 
of  gauze  and  net  were  worth  one  pound  and 
thirteen  shillings,  and  were  worn  by  women 
of  fashion.  ^ 

Sendal.     See  Sarcanet. 

Sergedenim.  The  name  of  a  material, 
probably  our  niodern  denim.  Advertised  in 
the  Boston  Independent  Advertiser  of  Sep- 
tember, 1748,  and  in  the  Connecticut  Coii- 
rant  of  April  22,  1776,  and  thus  spelled — 
searge  de-nim. 

Sergedesoy.     See  Desoy. 

Shade.  In  1755  it  was  advertised  in 
colonial  prints  that  '^  capuchins  &  shades" 
would  be  made  to  order.  These  shades 
were  apparently  a  head -covering.  On  June 
I,  1738,  in  the  Boston  News  Letter,  ''  Wor- 
sted Shades;  "  in  1753,  'Mvhite  Paris  net 
shades;"    and   in    1755,    ''fine   Flowered 

213 


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Gauze  for  Shades" — were  all  advertised. 
The  word  shade  in  these  notices  was  applied 
to  a  stuff  rather  than  to  head-gear  or  gar- 
ments. Thus  Eliza  Southgate  Bowne  wrote, 
about  the  year  1800  : 

If  you  see  anything  that  would  be  light  and  hand- 
some for  our  summer  gowns  I  wish  you  would  get 
them.  Why  cant  you  go  and  see  McClellans  Lace 
Shades.  I  think  there  are  some  for  ten  shillings  a 
yard. 

I  do  not  find  the  word  shade  defined  as  a 
stuff  in  any  dictionary,  but  in  a  poem 
printed  in  1766  I  find  in  a  list  of  mate- 
rials— 

Painted  lawns  and  cheqer'd  shades 
Crape  that's  worn  by  lovelorn  maids, 
Watered  tabbies,  flowered  brocades. 

Shadow.  A  shadow  was  a  sunshade, 
either  worn  on  the  head  or  carried  in  the 
hand.  In  1580,  in  England,  a  **  Gale  and 
Shadoe ' '  were  worth  five  shillings.  We 
read,  in  Piirchas'  Pilgrimage ^  of  '*  shadows 
to  defend  in  Summer  from  the  Sunne, 
in  Winter  from  the  raine."  In  the  inven- 
tory of  the  estate  of  Richard  Lusthead,  of 
ax4 


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Mattapinian,  Md.,  in  1642,  we  find  **  plain 
shadows  "  among  other  headgear.  They 
are  also  named  in  Viri^inian  inventories. 


'O' 


Shag.  A  heavy  woollen  cloth  with  a 
long  nap,  much  used  in  New  England,  but 
possibly  too  heavy  for  Virginia  and  the 
Carolinas.  Pyncheon  wrote  from  Spring- 
field for  ' '  tawny,  murry,  &  liver  -  culler 
shagg."  George  Vaughan,  a  New  Hamp- 
shire settler,  received  in  1632  ninety  yards 
of  shag  at  eighteen  pence  a  yard.  It  was 
advertised  in  the  Connecticut  Courant  as  late 
as  October  15,  1790.  It  was  much  used,  to 
quote  Carlyle's  phrase,  '*  for  petticoats  and 
other  indispensable  garments." 

Shalloons.  Peter  Fanueil  ordered,  in 
1737  shalloons  at  AfS.  6d.  a  yard.  Phillips 
gave,  in  1706,  this  definition  of  the  material : 
**  Shalloon,  a  sort  of  woolen  stuff  chiefly 
used  for  the  linings  of  coats,  and  so  called 
from  Chalons,  a  city  of  France  where  it  was 
first  made."  It  was  in  texture  not  unlike 
our  modern  challis.  I  cannot  find  that  the 
words  and  stuffs,  though  similar,  have  any 

3IS 


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direct  connection.     The  name  shallons  ap- 
pears in  advertisements  till  this  century. 

Shape.  A  shape  was  originally  a  head- 
covering.  In  1753,  June  11,  in  the  Boston 
Evening  Post,  ''  New  Fashion  Childrens 
Bugle  &  Silver  Shapes  ' '  appear.  Cotton 
shapes  also  were  advertised  ;  and  in  October, 
*'  Flowered  Velvet  Shapes,  ditto  in  Various 
Colours  cut  &  flower'd,"  which  were  either 
a  stuff  or  a  garment.  In  1767  "  New  Taby 
Shapes  ' '  were  ''  25  sh  per  piece. ' '  This  mean- 
ing of  the  word  shape,  as  given  in  all  the 
eighteenth  century  newspapers,  is  entirely 
overlooked  by  the  dictionaries. 

Shawl.  The  first  notice  that  I  have  seen 
of  the  sale  of  shawls  in  America  appeared  in 
the  Sa/em  Gazette  in  1784  :  *'  a  rich  Sort- 
ment  of  Shawls."  This  was  at  the  time  of 
the  birth  of  the  East  India  trade.  The  use 
of  the  shawl  in  Europe  is  practicallyof  this 
century. 

Sheen-strads.     See  Spatterdashes. 

Sherry-vallies.     a  sort  of  pantaloon  or 
legging  worn  on  horseback,  as  a  protection 
216 


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against  bespattering  mud,  over  trousers  or 
breeches,  and  buttoned  up  on  the  outside  of 
the  leg.  Rebecca  Franks,  writing  in  Rev- 
olutionary times,  said  of  General  Charles 
Lee,  that  he  rode  in  "old  green  breeches 
patched  with  leather."  He  answered  her 
with  asperity  that  they  were  **  actually  legiti- 
mate sherryvallies  such  as  his  majesty  of  Po- 
land wears,  who  let  me  tell  you,  is  a  man 
who  has  made  more  fashions  than  all  your 
knights  of  the  Meschianza  put  together." 
In  a  note  in  the  United  States  Magazine,  for 
January,  1779,  it  is  said  that  ''sherry- 
vallies were  a  kind  of  long  breeches  reach- 
ing to  the  ankle,  with  a  broad  stripe  of 
leather  on  the  inside  of  the  thigh  for  con- 
venience of  riding."  A  Springfield  tailor 
thus  advertised  in  1825  : 

Shorrevals  and  Overalls 
And  Pantaloons  he'll  make, 
Cutting  too  he'll  always  do 
And  will  no  cabbage  take. 

These  "  shorrevals  "  were  sherry -vallies. 

Shift.     The  old   English  word  shift  was 
universally    used   by    all    English  -  speaking 
217 


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folk  to  denote  the  feminine  under-garment 
now  known  as  a  chemise.  Ann  Clark  and 
Jane  Humphreys,  settlers  in  Massachusetts 
in  1666  and  1668,  left  shifts  by  will.  In 
1738  Elizabeth  Gedney,  of  Boston,  had  four- 
teen shifts  valued  at  ^8  4s.  Madam  Usher 
had  "  7  Holland  shifts  and  i  Flannel  shift." 
Shifts  appear  in  the  inventories  of  men's  es- 
tates, but  were  not,  I  think,  ever  worn  by 
men. 

Shoes.  The  Virginian  planters  stepped 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  James  in  boots ; 
but  the  universal  foot-covering  of  the  Pil- 
grim and  Puritan  colonists  was  shoes. 
*  *  Four  hundred  peare  of  shues ' '  were  or- 
dered for  the  one  hundred  emigrants  to  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  in  1628.  Part 
of  an  order  for  these  colonists  was  made 
according  to  this  contract  :  "  Agreed  with 
John  Heuson  to  make  eight  peare  of  Welt 
neates  leather  shues  closed  on  the  outsydes 
with  a  seam  ;  to  be  substanciall  good  ouer 
Leather  of  the  best  and  2  soles,  the  Inner 
soale  of  goode  neates  Leather,  and  the  outer 
of  tallowed  backs. "  ' '  Dekers  of  the  best 
218 


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bend  Lether ' '  were  also  carried  to  the  new 
land  for  the  purpose  of  making  new  shoes 
when  these  stout  English  ones  were  worn 
out,  and  a  tannery  was  established  at  Ips- 
wich, Mass.,  in  1634,  to  provide  new  leath- 
er. 

Many  of  these  shoes  that  were  furnished 
to  the  early  planters  were  thirteen  inches 
long,  and  were  not  made  with  pointed  toes 
either ;  on  such  sturdy  bases  did  the  found- 
ers of  the  new  colony  rest. 

In  Connecticut  the  leather-tanning  and 
shoemaking  trades  were  quickly  estab- 
lished ;  and  it  is  painful  to  know  that  the 
founders  of  a  '*  state  whose  Desire  was  Re- 
Hgion  and  Religion  alone,"  quickly  learned 
to  cheat  in  their  shoemaking.  As  early  as 
1647  a  large  lot  of  the  shoes  made  by  the 
Connecticut  colonists  proved  grievously 
poor  and  unworthy — the  thread  weak,  the 
leather  weaker  ;  and  lawsuits  were  quickly 
brought  by  the  incensed  shoe-buyers.  When 
the  matter  was  brought  before  the  magis- 
trates, Contractor  Meigs  tried  to  throw  the 
blame  on  his  workman.  The  latter  in  turn 
brought  witnesses  to  prove  that  "  Goodman 
219 


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Meigs  said  to  Goodman  Gregory,  Flapp 
them  together,  they  are  to  go  far  inoughe," 
and  so  he  (Gregory)  did  flap  them  together 
as  ordered.  The  leather,  too,  did  not  prove 
to  be  as  represented,  and  in  order  to  avoid 
further  deception  the  court  decreed  that 
''  every  Shoemaker  in  the  town  mark  all 
those  shoes  he  makes  of  neates  leather  before 
he  Sells  them  with  an  N  upon  the  lap  with- 
inside  below  where  they  be  tied."  At  the 
same  date  the  finest  shoes  were  marked,  in 
comical  contrast  to  our  modern  slang,  "  N. 
G." 

In  delivering  final  judgment  on  Good- 
man Meigs  the  court  said:  '*In  a  single 
pair  of  shoes  several  evils  appear  :  such  as 
contempt  of  court,  continewed  unrighteous- 
ness, and  other  similar  evils ;  and  how 
many  shoes  he  had  made  and  sold  of  such 
faulty  materials,  and  so  loaded  with  evils  the 
court  say  they  know  not."  Thus  was  the 
depravity  of  inanimate  objects  rebuked  by 
the  Puritan  magistrates. 

It  is  common  to  represent  the  Puritans  as 
shod  with  buckled  shoes,  but  certainly  these 
New  Haven  colonists  wore  shoe-strings  in- 


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stead  of  buckles.  The  latter  are  not  men- 
tioned in  the  early  inventories,  but  shoe- 
strings were  important  enough  to  be  left  by- 
will,  as  by  that  of  Mrs.  Dillingham,  of 
Ipswich.  Perhaps  they  were  ''rich  span- 
gled marisco  shoe-strings,"  such  as  Dekker 
wrote  of  in  1633  in  his  Match  Me  in  Lon- 
don. 

If  shoe-strings  were  valuable  enough  to  be 
bequeathed,  of  course  shoes  would  be  also. 
WilHam  Replye,  of  Hingham,  a  wealthy 
man,  left  ''  one  paier  of  shoes  to  my  son  " 
by  will.  Scores  of  other  instances  could  be 
given. 

Sizes  were  designated  by  numbers,  as  at 
the  present  day.  From  the  inventory  of 
the  estate  of  Robert  Turner,  of  Boston,  in 
1 65 1,  we  learn  that  No.  11  shoes  were 
worth  ^s.  6d.  a  pair ;  No.  1 2  shoes,  4s.  Sd. 
a  pair;  No.  13  shoes,  4^-.  lod.  a  pair.  In 
1672  a  law  was  proposed  in  Boston  to  pre- 
vent shoemakers  from  asking  more  than  five 
shillings  a  pair  for  sizes  11  and  12.  Laws 
were  enacted  in  other  communities  to  pre- 
vent extortionate  prices.  In  Connecticut 
in  1676  shoemakers  could  have  only  ''  five 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


pence  half  penny  a  size  for  all  playne  & 
wooden  heeled  shoes,  and  seven  pence  half- 
penny a  size  for  well  wrought  French 
Falls."  French  Fall  shoes,  whatever  they 
were,  remained  in  style  for  some  time. 
Runaway  Indian  servants  were  advertised  in 
t\iQ  Boston  News  Letter  oi  October,  171 1, 
and  of  September,  1713,  as  wearing  French 
Fall  Shoes.  In  Maryland  this  style  of  shoe 
seems  to  have  been  common  wear  as  early  as 

1653- 

The  advertisements  of  runaways  at  that 
date  show  a  vast  variety  of  styles.  One  in 
1 71 2  wore  ''Square  To'd  Shoes  with  Steel 
Buckles  ;  "  another,  in  1707,  wore  "  Round 
to'd  Shoes;"  a  third,  in  1711,  had  a 
**  New  pair  Wooden  Heeled  Shoes  ;  "  and, 
in  1 7 16,  one  had  ''  old  shoes  with  strings  in 
them."  By  1723  low  leather  heels  appear, 
and  shoe- buckles  of  steel,  brass,  and  silver, 
even  on  negro  slaves.  The  Virginian  slaves 
seem  to  have  worn  largely  **  Virginia-shoes." 
I  find  the  name  used  for  the  wear  of  field- 
servants  till  this  century. 

Of  women's  shoes  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury  we   know   but   little.      Doubtless   the 


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Puritan  dames  and  maids  followed  closely 
the  Puritan  goodmen  in  shape  and  material 
of  their  foot-gear.  Pointed  shoes  came  in 
style  by  1730,  and,  like  those  worn  by  Eng- 
lish ladies  of  fashion,  were  of  thin  material. 
In  1740  "Mourning  Shoes"  appeared  in  the 
Boston  Evening  Post,  and  in  April,  1742, 
in  the  same  paper,  Mrs.  Nutmaker  adver- 
tised that  she  had  at  the  Three  Sugar  Loaves 
and  Cannister  "  Womens  fine  Silk,  flower'd 
Russel,  white  callimanco.  Black  Russel, 
Black  Shammy,  &  Girls  Flower'd  Russel 
Shoes,  Black  Velvet,  white  Damask,  & 
flower'd  silk  Clogs,  Womens  black  &  chil- 
drens  red  Morocco  shoes  and  pumps ;  "  a 
pretty  variety,  surely.  These  shoes  were 
not  at  all  cheap.  In  1748,  in  the  Boston 
Independefit  Advertiser,  appeared  this  no- 
tice:  *^  Greatest  Variety  of  Beautiful  Silk 
Shoes  as  has  been  imported  in  many  years. 
Russel  and  Callimanco  Shoes  52s  6d  a 
pair  ; ' '  and  the  silk  and  damask  ones  were 
higher  priced  still. 

John  Hoses  shoes  were  great  favorites  for 
many    years,    and    were    sold    everywhere 
throughout   the  colonies.     In    1764   Jolley 
223 


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Allen,  the  enterprising  Boston  shopkeeper, 
advertised  ''John  Hoses  shoes  at  56s.  Silk 
Shoes  at  6s.  Neat  made  Russel  shoes  at 
47s  6d  and  Lyn  made  shoes  at  36s." 
This  last  item  brings  us  to  a  very  impor- 
tant feature  in  shoe-wearing  in  America — the 
manufacture  of  shoes  in  Lynn.  Shoes  were 
made  in  that  town  as  early  as  1670 — coarse 
shoes  with  straps  and  buckles  —  and  the 
manufacture  constantly  increased.  By  1750 
women's  shoes  of  fine  quality  were  made 
with  ''white  and  russet  bands  closely 
stitched  with  waxed  threads."  The  toes 
were  pointed  and  heels  were  high,  "cross- 
cut, common,  court  and  ^vurtemburgh " 
heels.  In  1763  best  Lynn  made  shoes  were 
advertised  in  Boston  papers — "  womens  cal- 
limanco  Shoes  of  all  colours  and  sizes  made 
by  the  neatest  handed  workmen  in  Lynn  at 
38s  a  pair  and  cheaper  by  the  quantity." 
The  manufacture  of  shoes  in  Lynn  increased 
so  in  quantity  and  quality  that  it  completely 
revolutionized  the  trade. 

Women's  shoes  were  made  of  still  other 
materials  than  have  been  mentioned — dam- 
ask,  cloth,   everlasting.     Avis   Binney   had 
224 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


for  sale  in  1751  **womens  best  Damask 
Worsted  shoes  in  fashionable  colours,  viz  : 
Saxon  blue,  green,  pink  colour,  and 
white ;  "  so  it  is  plain  that  very  light-col- 
ored shoes  prevailed  at  that  date.  In  1782 
came  on  the  brig  Sally  to  Providence  a  large 
stock  of  ' '  embroidered  shoe  Vamps  ' '  and 
"Sattinet  patterns  for  Ladies'  shoes  of  vari- 
ous colours  with  a  set  Flower  in  the  Vamp." 
So  we  see  that  women's  shoes  disappeared 
with  the  Revolution,  and  with  republican 
simplicity  ladies'  shoes  came  in.  Low 
heels,  too,  made  their  appearance,  no  heels 
even,  sandal  -  shaped  foot-gear,  about  the 
year  1790.  Very  low  heels  had  been  ad- 
vertised in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of 
1764,  but  I  fancy  they  were  on  servants' 
shoes.  Children's  shoes  followed  the  fash- 
ions of  their  elders.  Boys  wore  leather  and 
kid,  and  Httle  girls  had  ''silk  Damask,  red 
moroco  and  flowered  russel  shoes. ' ' 

All  these  vari-colored  and  vari -shaped 
shoes  for  women's  and  ladies'  wear  had  thin 
soles.  I  have  never  seen  a  pair  of  century- 
old  shoes,  no  matter  what  the  material,  with 
anything  but  '  *  paper  soles. ' '  Hence  the 
225 


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vast  sale  and  wear  of  clogs,  goloshes,  and 
pattens. 

At  intervals  throughout  the  century- 
buckles  of  different  sizes  and  materials  were 
worn  on  women's  shoes,  but  it  is  impossible 
to  give  the  exact  dates  of  such  wear. 
"Sorted  Colours  of  Shoe  Roses,"  as  adver- 
tised in  the  Salem  Gazette  of  July,  1784, 
had  also  their  day,  alternating  with  buckles 
and  ferret  shoe-strings  in  favor. 

In  the  cases  at  the  Essex  Institute  at  Sa- 
lem, and  in  the  Museum  of  Art  at  Boston,  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Worcester  Society  of  An- 
tiquity, and  in  the  Deerfield  Memorial  Hall 
may  be  seen  handsome  shoes  that  were  worn 
by  women  in  the  past  century  ;  high-heeled, 
pointed-toed,  of  as  rich  material  as  the 
gowns,  they  are  broader  in  the  sole  across 
the  ball  of  the  foot  than  would  now  be 
considered  elegant  or  graceful.  See^Batts* 
Brogues,  Pumps,  Slippers,  Cockers. 

Shoepack.  a  shoe  shaped  like  a  mocca- 
sin, without  a  separate  sole,  but  made  of 
tanned  leather,  and  much  worn  in  Revolu- 
tionary times. 

936 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Silk  Grass.  From  the  earliest  years  of 
the  colonies  until  well  into  the  eighteenth 
century  I  find  constant  references  to  a  tex- 
tile called  silk  grass.  Mr.  Eggleston  says 
it  was  the  "  cotton  "  from  the  milkweed. 
This  statement  cannot  be  correct ;  the  milk- 
weed pappus  was  called  silk-down.  John 
Winthrop,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Robert  Murray 
in  167 1,  explains  at  length  that  the  silk 
down  from  the  "  si  Ike  podds  "  was  used  to 
stuff  beds  and  bolsters  and  for  tinder  ;  and 
he  adds,  "  Concerning  ye  question  whether 
it  be  spun,  I  have  heard  of  some  have  tried 
it  but  never  saw  any  but  some  grosly  spun 
for  candlewicke. " 

Many  references  vaguely  indicate  the  real 
character  of  silk  grass.  On  December  23, 
1640,  Thomas  Georges  wrote  to  John  Win- 
throp for  "  some  of  that  stuffe  which  with 
us  supplies  the  want  of  hempe.  Our  Indi- 
ans make  theyr  snow  Shoes,  nets  and  bags 
of  it.  Alsoe  of  a  bigger  stalke  called  silke 
grass  which  makes  very  fine  hempe." 
Francis  Higginson  wrote  in  1630  that  there 
were  in  New  England  "  two  kinds  of  herbs 
that  bear  two  kinds  of  flowers  very  sweet 
227 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


which  they  say  are  as  good  to  make  cordage 
or  cloth  as  any  flax  or  hemp  we  have." 
Some  indication  of  its  identity  is  found  in 
the  Travels  of  Kalm  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1744,  who  writes:  "  Instead  of  flax  several 
people  make  use  of  a  kind  of  Dogsbane  or 
Apocynum  cannabium.  The  people  prepare 
the  stalks  of  this  plant  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  we  prepare  Hemp  or  Flax." 
Many  other  travellers  and  planters  bear  glow- 
ing testimony  to  these  "herbes."  Cartier 
speaks  of  them,  calling  them  chanure  (chan- 
vre).  Berkeley  writes  of  them  in  Virginia. 
In  the  True  Relation  concerning  the  State  of 
New  England^  1634,  we  read  of  **  three 
sortes  of  plantes  whereof  Lynnen  &  Cordage 
may  be  made,  the  coursest  sort  excells  our 
hemp  &  the  finest  may  equal  the  coursest 
silke."  In  1628  ''two  tun  weight  of  silke 
grasse  ' '  was  ordered  by  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  Company;  and  Matthew  Cradock,  \vrit- 
ing  from  London  in  1629  to  Endicott,  said: 
"The  like  do  I  wish  for  a  ton  weight  at 
least  of  silk  grass."  It  was  evidently  used 
to  weave  with  silk,  for  in  1719,  in  Judith 
Sewall's  outfit  was  ordered  "Good  strong 
228 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


black  Silk  Damask,  no  Silk  Grass  to  be  in 
it."  And  we  know  Queen  Elizabeth  had  a 
gown  made  of  it.  It  must  have  been  strong 
and  tough,  for  I  find  it  constantly  advertised 
for  sale  for  shoemakers'  supplies.  In  the 
Boston  News  Letter,  May  23,  1727,"  Good 
Silk  Grass  Suitable  for  Cordwainers ;  "  on 
December  26,  1728,  *'  Very  good  Silk  Grass 
for  Shoemakers."  Both  cordwainers  and 
braziers  also  had  it  for  sale  in  Boston  at  the 
same  date. 

Skilts.  Sylvester  Judd,  a  most  reliable 
and  valued  authority,  thus  described  in 
Margaret  this  garment : 

Her  father  and  elder  brother  wore  a  sort  of  brown 
tow  trousers  known  at  the  time  as  skilts  ;  they  were 
short,  reaching  just  below  the  knee,  and  very  large 
being  a  full  half  yard  broad  at  the  bottom. 

They  were  worn  during  Revolutionary  times, 
and  seem  to  have  been  a  forerunner  of  trou- 
sers. 

Skirt.     The  first  application  of  this  word 
in  the  sense  of  petticoat  appears  in   1768, 
229 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


thus:  ''Fine  Flower' d  Dimothies  for 
Skirts."  "Quilts  for  Ladies  Skirts." 
Skirts  of  coats  and  waistcoats  had  been  pre- 
viously named.  We  read  in  the  Journal  of 
a  Young  Lady  of  Virginia  (1782)  : 

Hannah  was  dressed  in  a  lead-coulered  habbit 
open,  with  a  lylack  lutestring  scirt.  Sister  wore  a 
blue  habbit  with  a  white  Satin  scirt. 

Sleeve.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  the 
sleeve  was  often  a  separate  article  of  dress 
and  the  most  gorgeous  and  richly  orna- 
mented portion  of  the  dress.  Outer  and  in- 
ner sleeves  were  worn  by  both  men  and 
women.  But  Elizabeth  banished  the  outer 
sleeve,,  though  she  retained  the  detached 
sleeve.  In  our  colonial  days  separate  sleeves 
still  were  worn  by  women,  but  not  such  gay 
sleeves.  A  careful  student  of  the  history  of 
the  sleeve  notes : 

The  flat  lace  or  linen  collar  of  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century  had  a  depressing  effect  on 
the  sleeve  ;  it  was  still  full,  but  flattened  on  the 
shoulder.  It  was  not  until  the  latter  part  of  that 
century  that  the  sleeve  merely  to  the  elbow  became 
common  in  England  ;  and  the  eighteenth  century 
was  emphatically  the  age  of  the  elbow  sleeve,  with 
230 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

its  frills  of  real  lace  and  ornaments  of  fluttering  rib- 
bons. In  the  days  of  the  Revolution  the  sleeve  van- 
ished. 

The  "  slytting  "  or  slashing  of  sleeves  was 
still  in  vogue  in  Pilgrim  days,  and  was  re- 
garded as  an  idle  vanity.  Massachusetts 
men  and  women  were  forbidden  to  have 
more  than  one  slash  in  each  sleeve,  nor  could 
they  wear  sleeves  over  half  an  ell  wide. 
Short  sleeves,  ' '  whereby  the  nakedness  of  the 
arm  may  be  discovered,"  were  also  prohib- 
ited, or  were  to  be  reinforced  and  made 
properly  modest  with  linen  cuffs.  Existing 
portraits  prove  how  little  these  laws  were 
heeded.  A  double-puffed  "  virago  "  sleeve 
seems  to  have  been  much  worn  by  women 
just  previous  to  the  assumption  of  the  elbow 
sleeve.  Few  indications  of  the  wear  of  de- 
tached sleeves  are  noted  among  the  English 
colonists  ;  but  Dutch  women  had  almost 
universally  a  ' '  pair  of  sleeves. ' '  Sometimes 
these  were  worth  three  pounds  a  pair.  They 
were  often  trimmed  with  '*  great  lace"  or 
gold  lace,  and  seem  to  have  been  a  truly 
elegant  and  convenient  fashion. 

I  wish  to  note,  in  passing,  a  definite  use 
231 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


of  the  word  hanging  sleeve,  which  I  have 
not  seen  given  in  any  of  the  dictionaries  or 
histories  of  costume,  which  always  character- 
ize hanging  sleeves  as  an  ornamental  over- 
sleeve. It  was  often  used  by  Pepys  in  his 
diary,  and  by  Judge  Sewall  in  his  letters, 
solely  to  indicate  a  portion  of  the  dress  of  a 
child,  in  fact  to  symbolize  a  dress  of  infancy. 
Judge  Sewall  also  used  it  to  indicate  second 
childhood,  thus,  ^'  I  am  come  again  to  my 
hanging  sleeves. ' '  A  girl  who  was  ' '  still  in 
hanging  sleeves  "  was  still  a  Uttle  child,  not 
even  a  miss  in  her  teens. 

Sliders.     See  Slyders. 

Slipper. 

Standing  on  slippers  which  his  nimble  haste 
Had  thrust  upon  contrary  feet, 

wrote  Shakespeare  in  his  day.  Henry  VII. 
when  writing  to  inquire  the  personal  ap- 
pearance of  a  princess  whom  he  wished  for 
a  wife,  asked  if  she  *'  stood  in  slipers." 
Judge  Samuel  Sewall  wrote  to  Edward  Hall, 
in  1686,  thanking  him  for  "your  loving 
Token  the  East  India  slippers  to  my  wife ;  ' ' 
232 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


and  in  his  diary,  of  his  own  footgear,  "  Go- 
ing out  to  call  the  Fisherman  in  slip-shoes 
I  fell  flat."  Randle  Holme  writes  of  slap- 
shoes — shoes  with  a  loose  sole. 

Part  of  the  lading  of  the  Neptune,  which 
was  sold  at  Andrew  Faneuil's  shop  or  wharf 
in  Boston,  in  171 1,  were  ''slippers."  Mo- 
rocco slippers  appear  frequently  for  sale  in 
the  early  American  newspapers. 

In  1796  Sally  McKean  wrote  to  the  sister 
of  Dolly  Madison  of  the  modes  of  the  day  : 

There  have  come  some  odd  fashioned  slippers  for 
ladies  made  of  various  color' d  kid  and  morocco  with 
small  silver  clasps  sewed  on  ;  they  are  very  hand- 
some. 

Slivers.     See  Slyders. 

Slops.  The  signification  of  this  word 
has  greatly  varied.  Originally  a  loose  cas- 
sock for  woman's  wear,  it  came  to  mean  a 
smock-frock,  then  a  night-gown ;  then,  in 
Shakespeare's  time,  it  meant  wide,  full,  Dutch 
breeches — ^knickerbockers — and  such  is  its 
signification  when  used  in  old  New  Eng- 
land, though  apparently  for  overall  breeches 
233 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


to  be  worn  to  protect  other  breeches  or  hose. 
The  old  English  application  of  the  word  to 
a  certain  form  of  shoes  is  not  found  in  Amer- 
ica. Its  present  colloquial  use  is  to  indicate 
cheap,  ready-made  clothing.  The  eigh- 
teenth-century word  cantsloper,  or  khant- 
sloper,  used  by  Colonel  John  May,  of  Boston, 
in  his  diary,  is  in  some  obscure  way  related 
to  the  word  slops,  and  meant — judging  from 
its  relative  position  in  sentences — what  we 
now  term  a   mackintosh. 

Slyders.  The  word  slyder  is  given  by 
Felt  as  a  New  Englandism  for  overalls.  I 
have  found  it  frequently  so  used  in  invento- 
ries of  goods  sent  from  England  to  Wynter 
at  Richmond's  Island  in  the  years  1635  to 
1640,  and  spelt  slyders  and  sHders.  Boys' 
**  camnas  "  sliders,  as  well  as  men's,  were 
invoiced  to  him,  and  were  worth  five  shil- 
lings a  suit.  We  read  in  the  account  of  a 
shipwreck  on  the  Florida  coast  in  the  early 
colonial  days,  that  the  men  were  cast  ashore 
in  slyders.  Slivers,  or  slivings,  were  loose 
slops  also  worn  by  sailors,  but  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  overalls. 

234 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Snail.     See  Lace. 

Snow-shoe.  In  the  Suffolk  County  Rec- 
ords of  the  year  165 1  snow-shoes  were  named 
as  part  of  Thomas  Sautell's  estate.  One  of 
the  Winthrop  letters,  dated  1640,  speaks  of 
the  Indians  making  the  cords  of  their  snow- 
shoes  of  silk  grass.  Josselyn,  the  traveller 
in  New  England,  wrote  in  1670,  of ''snow 
shooes  made  like  a  large  Racket  we  play 
Tennis  with."  As  late  as  1748  they  were 
called  rackets.  In  1704  it  was  enacted  that 
the  militia  on  the  frontier  be  provided  with 
snow-shoes,  and  all  the  colonists  in  outlying 
towns  quickly  learned  to  use  them.  At 
ordinations  in  Maine  the  visiting  clergy 
often  appeared  on  snow-shoes,  and  doctors 
visited  their  patients  thus  shod.  Rev. 
Thomas  Smith  writes  in  his  diary  of  a 
couple  who  came  to  him  on  snow-shoes  to  be 
married. 

Solitaire.  ''  Bag  wig,  laced  ruffles  and 
black  solitaire"  were  the  marks  of  a  man 
of  fashion  in  1760.  The  neck  decoration 
called  a  solitaire  was  introduced  in  France 
in  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.     It  was  a  broad 

23s 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


black  ribbon  worn  loosely  around  the  throat, 
apparently  to  protect  partly  the  coat  from 
the  powdered  wig.  Often  it  was  tied  to  the 
back  of  the  wig  and  brought  around  and 
tucked  in  the  shirt  ruffle.  This  fashion  im- 
mediately preceded  the  large  white  bow  of 
lawn  and  lace  that  was  worn  by  the  Maca- 
ronis. It  was  in  high  fashion  in  America, 
and  solitaire  ribbons  were  advertised  in 
many  American  newspapers,  especially  in 
the  Southern  States. 

Spatterdashes.  In  the  Boston  Evening 
Post  of  1763  were  advertised,  "■  Thread  and 
Cotton  Spatterdashes."  These  were  a  cov- 
ering for  the  legs  to  protect  trousers,  stock- 
ings, etc.,  from  mud  and  wear.  They  were 
part  of  a  soldier's  uniform.  The  modern 
word  spats  is  therefrom  derived.  Spatter- 
dashes were  also  called  copper-clouts,  and 
sheen-steads,  both  English  local  names; 
and  were  also  spelt  spatterplashes.  See 
Sherry-vallies. 

Stamin.  a  heavy  cloth  like  linsey-wool- 
sey, or  taminy,  q.  v. 

236 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


••  Stammel.  a  woollen  cloth,  possibly 
called  also  stamin.  It  was  like  flannel  and 
much  used  for  petticoats  ;  and  being  red, 
the  name  also  was  applied  to  the  color  red. 
We  read  in  Hakluyt's  Foyages  of  "  carsies 
of  all  orient  colours  especially  stammel," 
and  also  of  sending  for  stammel  dyes. 

Startups.  This  word  is  found  in  New 
England  inventories  of  men's  attire.  Thomas 
Johnson,  of  Weathers  field.  Conn.,  had  a 
*'  perre  of  startups  "  in  1640.  They  were  a 
sort  of  buskin  or  half- boot,  for  common 
wear.  In  Thynne's  Debate  between  Pride 
and  Lowliness^  a  countryman  wears  these 
shoes,  which  are  thus  described  : 

A  payre  of  startuppes  had  he  on  his  feete, 
That  lased  were  up  to  the  small  of  the  legge  ; 
Homelie  they  were,  and  easier  than  meete, 
And  in  their  soles  full  many  a  wooden  pegge, 

"  Stays.  I  do  not  know  when  "whale- 
bone prisons  "  for  women  first  were  worn, 
but  it  is  certain  that  many  a  pair  crossed  in 
the  Mayflower  and  tight-lacing  was  known 
in  the  twelfth  century.  Stays  appear  in  the 
early  inventories  of  women's  attire — ^as  val- 

237 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


uable  heirlooms.  In  1679,  upon  a  Salem 
tailor's  bill  is  the  item,  "  To  altering  &  fit- 
ting a  paire  of  stayes  is  6d."  Whalebone 
at  that  time  was  worth  2s.  6d.  a  pound.  By 
newspaper  days,  as  early  as  17 14,  we  find  ad- 
vertisements of  very  good  silk  stays,  and 
later  of  stay-makers : 

This  is  to  give  notice  to  all  Gentlewomen,  Ladies 
&  Other  Persons  who  may  have  Occasion  for  New 
Stays  that  David  Burnet  from  Great  Britain  who 
now  lives  near  the  Sign  of  the  Ship  upon  the  Stocks 
in  Battery  March,  in  Boston,  makes  all  Sorts  of  Stays 
after  the  Newest  Best  Fashion,  And  also  makes  Stays 
for  such  as  are  Crooked  or  Deformed  in  their  Bodies, 
so  as  to  make  them  appear  Strait,  which  was  never 
before  done  in  this  Country. 

Stay-maker  Burnet  may  be  held  responsible, 
for  at  least  forty  years,  for  Boston  dames* 
wooden,  flat  figures  which  he  trussed  up  in 
"turned  stays,  jumps  and  gazzets,"  and 
finally  in  caushets — which  I  suppose  was  the 
provincial  way  of  spelling  corsets.  I  have 
also  seen  tl^e  word  *'  coascetts  "  in  a  seven- 
teenth -  century  inventory.  In  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  stays  were  made  and  sold. 
Women's  stays  and  *'  custulls  "  are  adver- 
238 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


tised  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  \Xi  1761  ; 
but  if  David  Burnet  knew  what  custulls 
were,  we  do  not,  nor  gazzets  either. 

We  also  catch  many  a  glimpse  of  the  ma- 
terials of  which  stays  were  made.  Thus,  on 
January  12,  1767,  WiUiam  Palfrey  at  the 
Heart  and  Crown  had  an  ''  Assortment  of 
Stay  Trimming  consisting  of  Fine  &  Coarse 
Yellow  Holland,  Galloun,  Strapping  braid 
&  cord.  White  Sattinet,  Stay  Tick,  Best 
White  Watered  Tabby,  White  and  half  Stif- 
fened Buckram,  White  Bellandine  Sewing 
Silk." 

Good  specimens  of  old-time  stays  can  be 
seen  in  the  cases  of  the  Essex  Institute  and 
the  Deerfield  Memorial  Hall — real  iron-clads 
— with  heavy  busks  and  adamantine  bones, 
and  covered  with  stiff  buckram.  I  have 
been  told  frequently  of  tin  stays,  but  have 
never  seen  them. 

^  Stayhooks.  These  hooks  were  not  to 
fasten  stays,  but  were  small  and  ornamental 
and  to  be  stuck  in  the  edge  of  the  bodipe  to 
hang  a  watch  or  etui  upon.  The  first  offer 
of  them  for  sale  which  I  have  seen  is  in  the 

239 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Boston  Gazette  in  1743.  "  Silver' d  Stay- 
hooks,"  and  '*  silver  sta^ooks  with  fine 
stones. "  In  the  Boston  Independent  Adver- 
tiser of  August,  1749,  appears  this  notice: 
**  There  was  taken  up  Yesterday  a  Hook  for 
a  Womans  Stays.  The  Person  who  lost  it 
may  have  it  by  enquiring  of  the  Printer." 
In  1762,  on  June  7,  the  Boston  News 
Letter  contained  the  advertisement  of 
"Gold  &  Stone  Sett  Breast  Hooks,  Plain 
Stay  hooks  and  Stone  sett  Ditto."  These 
were  pretty  trinkets,  and  were  in  high  fash- 
ion for  many  years.  I  have  seen  in  old 
jewel-boxes  several  stay-hooks  much  resem- 
bhng  our  modern  chatelaines  ;  there  are  one 
or  two  preserved  in  the  cases  of  the  Essex 
Institute.  Since  they  were  more  fi-equently 
of  silver  or  hard  metal  than  of  gold,  many 
have  perished  with  the  century. 

Stirrup-hose.     See  Hose. 

Stivers.  Edward  Skinner,  who  died  in 
1 64 1,  named  in  his  will  "  i  Payr  fustian 
Stivers  and  i  Payr  leathern  Stivers. ' ' 

Stock.     See  Neckstock. 
240 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Stockings.     See  Hose. 

V 

^  Stomacher.  Bishop  Earle  wrote  thus  of 
Puritan  garb  and  ''she  precise  hypocrites" 
in  1628  :  "A  nonconformist  in  a  close  stom- 
acher and  ruff  of  Geneva  print,  and  her  pu- 
rity consists  much  in  her  linen."  A  stom- 
acher is  sufficiently  defined  through  its 
evident  derivation — a  band  or  ornamental 
girdle  worn  over  the  stomach.  They  have 
been  in  fashion  at  varying  intervals  until  the 
present  day^  and  have  been  made  of  many 
and  varying  materials — folded  silk,  orris, 
leather,  silvered  gimps,  beads,  spangles,  and, 
as  shown  in  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of 
November,  1755,  of  ''Bugle  and  Paste- 
board." In  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of 
July  24,  1760,  we  read  of  "  gauze  and  bugle 
stomachers  with  floss  flowers."  A  writer  in 
the  Weekly  Rehearsal  oi  January  10,  1732, 
complains  of  the  variation  in  the  fashions  of 
stomachers,  saying,  "sometimes  it  Rises  to 
the  Chin,  and  a  Modesty-Piece  sufl'ers  the 
purpose  of  a  Ruff",  again  it  is  so  Complaisant 
as  not  to  reach  Half- Way."  Abigail  Adams, 
writing  to  Mrs.  Storer,  in  1785,  says  she  en- 
241 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


closes  **  patterns  of  a  stomacher,  cape  and 
forebody  of  a  gown  ;  different  petticoats  are 
much  worn,  and  then  the  stomacher  must  be 
of  petticoat  color." 

y  Strip.  An  ornamental  portion  of  dress 
apparently  solely  for  women's  wear,  and 
used  to  cover  the  neck  or  breast.  We  read 
in  P €716 lope  and  Ulysses^  1658, 

A  stomacher  upon  her  breast  so  bare, 

For  strips  and  gorget  were  not  then  the  weare. 

Among  the  rich  possessions  of  one  Richard 
Lusthead,  of  Mattapinian,  Va.,  in  1664,  we 
find  "9  laced  stripps,  2  plain  stripps.'* 
They  were  evidently  an  elegant  piece  of 
apparel. 

SuRDAN.  In  the  Boston  Gazette  and 
Country  Jour7ial  of  June  13,  1774,  a  runa- 
way slave  was  advertised  as  wearing  a  ' '  blue 
Surdan,"  w^hich  was  apparently  a  jacket  or 
waistcoat. 

SuRTOUT.     A  great-coat  for  men's  wear, 
or  an  outside  sleeved  jacket  for  women's 
wear.      We  read  in  the  Boston  Gazette  of 
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February  6,  1769,  that  there  was  lost  *'  Last 
Monday  Ev.  two  very  good  plain  &  Knapt 
Bath  Beaver  Surtoiits  of  a  light  mixt  Colour 
one  very  large  the  other  suitable  for  a  Boy 
of  12  years."  In  letters  of  that  same  date 
we  read  of  travelling  mantua-makers  coming 
to  make  cloth  surtouts  for  all  the  daughters 
in  the  family. 

Swanskin.  Fairholt  says  swanskin  was 
a  thick  fleecy  hosiery.  But  from  early  days 
we  read  in  American  newspapers  of  runa- 
ways in  swanskin  jackets,  and  also  of  ^'  Ell- 
wide  Swanskin  for  Ironing  cloth,"  which 
would  seem  to  point  to  its  being  a  cheap 
fleecy  cloth  like  Canton  flannel. 

Tabaret.  This  advertisement  from  the 
Boston  Gazette  of  1749  somewhat  defines 
this  material :  *'  Worsted  Tabaritts  the  new- 
est fashion.  In  Imitation  of  a  rich  Brocaded 
Silk."  It  was  a  sort  of  poplin,  and  was 
much  used  for  petticoats,  and  later,  of 
slightly  heavier  make,  for  upholstering  pur- 
poses. Tabbinet  was  a  similar  material  with 
a  watered  surface. 

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Tabby.  A  plain  soft  silk.  It  was  ad- 
vertised for  sale  in  the  Boston  News  Letter 
as  early  as  October,  171 1,  and  was  a  favorite 
material  for  women's  wear.  It  varied  much 
in  value.  A  petticoat  of  tabby  was  worth, 
in  1660,  ^2  I  OS.  We  read  under  date 
1676  of  ''  I  Pair  Tabby  Bodyes  cloath  col- 
our'd  ^  wide  &  long  wastied."  Within  a 
hundred  years  the  name  has  been  applied  to 
watered  silks.  We  find  Peter  Faneuil's  sis- 
ter sending  word  to  England  to  have  an  old 
gown  dyed  and  "watered  like  a  tabby." 
See  ToBiNE  and  Tabaret. 

Taffeta.  This  was  not  originally  our 
modern  plain  silk  called  by  the  name,  but 
was  in  Chaucer's  day  a  heavier,  costlier  silk. 
Ann  Hibbin's  taffety  cloak  was,  from  its 
value  —  ^2  I  OS. — of  rich  quality.  The 
name  was  also  applied  to  thin  linen. 

Taminy.  a  woollen  stuff  glazed  like 
alpaca,  made  in  Norfolk.  It  was  spelt 
also  tammin,  tammy,  tamin,  etaminee,  and 
estamine.  I  learn  from  the  accounts  of 
John  Pyncheon,  of  Springfield,  in  1653, 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


that  "  red  Tammy  "  was  worth  at  that  date 
2S.  lod.  per  yard.  Martha  Emmons,  who 
died  in  Boston  in  1666,  owned  a  red  tam- 
miny  petticoat ;  one  of  her  neighbors  had  a 
'*  taminy  wast  cote."  I  find  tammy  and 
taminy  advertised  in  Connecticut  newspa- 
pers as  late  as  1775.  The  "  mixt  Esta- 
mains  "  worth  eighteen  shillings  a  yard,  that 
were  sent  to  Deliverance  Parkeman,  in  Bos- 
ton, in  1703,  were  also  taminys. 

Tewly.     See  Tuly. 

Therese.  a  large  veil  or  scarf  worn  as 
a  head-dress,  usually  of  a  light,  thin  material, 
such  as  gauze  or  mull.  Thereses  were  worn 
toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  are  named  in  the  lists  of  New  England 
milliners. 

Thumb  Ring.     See  Ring. 

Tiffany.  A  thin  gauzy  silk.  Tiffany 
hoods  were  forbidden  to  folk  of  modest  for- 
tune by  the  early  sumptuary  laws  of  Massa- 
chusetts, so  must  have  been  deemed  rich 
wear.     Tiffany  was  frequently  advertised  in 

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Boston  newspapers;  in  1739,  ^^^  ^^^  News 
Letter,  and  spelt  **Tifyny;"  in  1 741,  in 
the  New  England  Weekly  Journal,  and  spelt 
**  Tiffeny."  It  appears  so  frequently  with 
crapes  and  cypress,  that  I  think  black  tif- 
fany must  have  been  much  used  in  mourn- 
ing wear,  indeed  almost  appropriated  to  that 


Tippet.  A  narrow  covering  for  the  neck. 
In  1763,  November  6,  in  the  Boston  Even- 
ing Post,  Jolley  Allen  advertised  '*  Meck- 
lenburg Tippets  for  Women  &  Children  ;  " 
and  on  January  11,  1767,  he  had  ''very 
Gentell  Tippets  Silver'd  at  22s  6d."  Gauze 
tippets  were  advertised  also.  William  Pal- 
frey had  blue  and  silver,  and  white  and  sil- 
ver tippets.  Rattlesnake  tippets  were  of  fine 
blonde  stuck  with  flowers.  All  these  were 
ornamental  additions  to  the  toilet ;  but  in 
the  winter  tippets  of  various  kinds  of  furs 
were  worn  for  warmth.  The  Weekly  Re- 
hearsal of  January  10,  1732,  comments  on 
the  tippet  as  "  an  elegant  and  beautiful  Or- 
nament ;  in  Winter  the  Sable  is  Wonderful 
Graceful  &  a  fine  Help  to  the  Complexion." 
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ToBiNE.  A  heavy  silk  material  much 
used  for  rich  gowns  and  sacques.  In  1742 
the  Boston  News  Letter  advertised  ''Silk 
of  Sundry  Sorts  as  Rich  Tobine."  Striped 
and  flowered  tobins  were  named,  and  ''  To- 
bine  Lustrings  at  9  sh  sterling  a  yard,"  and 
*'  Rich  tobine  and  Tissue  for  men  &  womens 
wear  chiefly  gowns  and  sacks."  For  men's 
wear  it  was  used  in  waistcoats — the  striped 
seeming  to  be  the  favorite.  It  was  akin  in 
quality  to  tabby,  q.  v. 

Tongs.  Loose  trousers  or  overalls  of 
linen  or  cotton  stuff.  In  Margaret,  by 
Sylvester  Judd,  we  read,  ''  The  boys  were 
dressed  in  tongs,  a  name  for  pantaloons  or 
overalls  that  had  come  into  use."  The 
word  was  not  in  common  use  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution. 

Trollopee.  a  loose  gown  like  a  neg- 
ligee, worn  during  the  last  half  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century. 

Trousers.     The   first   hint   of  anything 
like  the  use  of  the  word  or  article  trousers, 
appears  in  the  items  of  consignments  to  John 
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Wynter,  of  Richmond's  Island,  Me.,  in  1638. 
"  7  pair  of  trushes  ^i  is."  The  word  fre- 
quently appears  in  his  later  accounts  and 
is  always  thus  spelled.  These  **  trushes  " 
were  probably  tow  overalls  for  the  use  of 
Wynter's  fishermen,  though  slyders,  which 
were  overalls,  were  also  named.  Trouses, 
trossers,  trews,  and  trusses  were  other  early 
forms  of  the  word.  Through  newspaper 
items  we  learn  of  runaway  slaves  wearing  off 
*' chequer' d,"  tow,  or  ozenbridge  trousers, 
sometimes  over  their  breeches.  One  was 
advertised  in  the  Week/y  Rehearsal  of  Sep- 
tember, 1733,  as  wearing  '*  Cinnamon  col- 
ourd  Plush  breeches  with  Trousers  over 
them."  Another  in  the  Boston  Gazette  oi 
May  27,  1 77 1,  is  said  to  have  run  off  in 
*'  Buckskin  breeches  and  white  trousers." 
It  seems  evident  that  the  word  was  at  first 
applied  to  a  garment  of  the  nature  of  over- 
alls. A  contemporary  writer  thus  describes 
them  :  **  linen  drawer  trousers  which  are 
breeches  and  stock  ins  all  in  one  and  fine 
cool  Wear."  One  servant  who  ran  off  in 
knee-breeches  was  "  reported  to  have  been 
seen  later  with  Frock  and  Trowsers  on." 
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These  tow  trousers  were  also  called  tongs. 
Sailors  wore  trousers.  The  portrait  of  Teach, 
the  pirate  (called  Blackbeard),  shows  him  in 
trousers.  The  date  of  portrait  is  about 
1734.  Trousers  did  not  come  into  general 
wear  till  after  Revolutionary  times  ;  in  fact, 
not  till  this  century.  The  first  mention  I 
have  seen  of  woollen  trousers  was  dated  1776. 
See  Tongs,  Slyders,  Skilts. 

TuFFTAFFETA.  This  stuff  was  a  taffeta 
with  velvet  or  plush  tufts  of  nap  or  raised 
pile.  I  have  never  found  any  tufftaffeta 
garments  named  save  in  New  England  in- 
ventories, and  then  only  jerkins  and  doub- 
lets for  men — no  women's  wear. 

TuLY.  Also  tewly.  A  color — red.  ''To 
make  bockerum  tuly — a  mannor  of  red  col- 
our, as  it  were  of  crop  madder."  I  read  ot 
tuly  waistcoats  in  New  England. 

Turban.  In  1763  ''  Silk  and  Tinsel 
Turbins"  were  advertised  in  the  Boston 
Evening  Post,  as  early  an  adverrisement  as  I 
have  noted  of  turbans.  In  1767  the  Con- 
necticut Courant  advertised  a  box  containing 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


a'^turbant  and  tippets."  Silvered  gauze 
turbans  were  very  fashionable  and  were  fre- 
quently trimmed  with  feathers.  Until  well 
into  this  century  women  wore  and  had  their 
portraits  painted  in  turbans,  which,  when 
made  of  rich  materials,  were  a  truly  impos- 
ing headgear. 

Though  I  have  never  seen  turbans  adver- 
tised for  men's  wear,  there  are  many  por- 
traits in  existence  of  masculine  New  Eng- 
landers  wearing  turbans,  or  a  headgear 
closely  resembling  the  feminine  turban.  The 
portrait  of  Edward  Bromfield,  and  those  of 
Thomas  Boylston,  Thomas  Hubbard,  and 
Master  John  Lovell  in  Memorial  Hall  in 
Cambridge,  all  display  caps  much  like  tur- 
bans. 

Umbrella.  Though  umbrellas  are  men- 
tioned in  Quarles's  Emblems  (which  was 
printed  in  England  in  1635)  and  by  various 
English  authors  after  the  year  1700,  they 
were  not  used  in  the  colonies  till  after  the 
middle  of  the  century.  In  the  year  1740 
a  l>elle  in  Windsor,  Conn.,  carried  an  um- 
brella which  had  been  brought  to  her  with 
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other  elegancies  for  the  toilet  from  the  West 
Indies.  Her  neighbors  mocked  her  by 
carrying  sieves  balanced  on  broom-handles. 
By  1762  they  were  advertised  in  Boston 
papers  by  all  enterprising  and  modish  milli- 
ners, and  by  other  tradespeople. 

Among  the  earliest  special  advertisements 
of  umbrellas  is  this  from  the  Boston  Evening 
Post,  June  6,  1768  : 

Umbrilloes  made  and  sold  by  Isaac  Greenwood  ; 
Turner,  in  his  shop  in  Front  Street  at  the  following 
Prices.  Neat  mahogany  frames  tipt  with  Ivory  or 
brass  ferrils  42s  6d  plain  ;  others  at  40s  ;  printed  at 
36s;  neat  Persian  Umbrellas  compleat  at  6  ids 
and  in  proportion  for  better  silk.  Those  Ladies 
whose  Ingenuity  Leisure  and  Oeconomy  leads  them 
to  make  their  own  may  have  them  cut  out  by  buying 
Umbrella  sticks  or  Forms  of  him  ;  and  those  Ladies 
that  are  better  employed  may  have  them  made  at 
15s  a  piece.  N.  B.  All  the  above  Prices  are  in  O. 
T. 

Oliver  Greenleaf  likewise  advertised  in  the 
same  paper  the  same  year,  on  May  23d, 
**  very  neat  Green  and  Blue  Umbrellas." 
Another  Boston  man,  ''  Unmade  Setts  of 
Sticks  for  Umbrilloes  for  those  who  wish  to 
cover  them  themselves." 
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The  early  spelling  was  usually  **  umbril- 
loe"  and  '' umberaloe."  The  shape,  can 
we  judge  from  the  newspaper  wood-cut,  was 
very  flat,  with  few  ribs.  The  old  umbrellas 
seen  in  museums  are  very  heavy  of  frame 
and  very  large. 

Vampay.  Sometimes  spelled  vamp,  or 
vampay.  A  short  woollen  hose,  or  stocking, 
reaching  only  to  the  ankles.  One  adver- 
tisement of  a  runaway  servant  described  him 
as  wearing  knit  vamps.  Another  wore  knit 
boots  over  his  hose,  which  boots  were  prob- 
ably vamps. 

Veil.  These  shields  for  the  face  were 
worn  by  Puritan  women,  and  were  enjoined 
by  Roger  Williams.  But  Minister  Cotton 
proved  that  such  wearing  was  not  com- 
manded by  the  apostles,  and  veils  were  dis- 
carded by  Salem  and  Boston  dames  in  1634 
-^so  runs  the  tale. 

Vest.     In    Pepys's  time   the  word  vest 
meant  ''  a  long  cassock  close  to  the  body," 
which  was  not  necessarily  a  sleeveless  gar- 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


ment  like  a  waistcoat.  It  seems  curious 
while  I  have  never  seen  the  word  vest  used 
in  New  England,  either  in  print  or  manu- 
script, until  the  middle  of  this  century,,  that 
it  was  constantly  used  in  Pennsylvania  in 
the  previous  century.  From  the  newspa- 
pers alone  innumerable  examples  can  be 
given.  In  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of 
May,  1752,  we  read  of  runaways  wearing 
off  stocking-wove  vests,  with  coats,  show- 
ing that  these  vests  were  waistcoats.  In  the 
same  publication,  under  date  of  January  13, 
1729,  another  runaway  wore  a  corded  dim- 
ity vest  flowered  with  yellow  silk ;  and  on 
June  30,  1736,  one  wore  a  cinnamon  vest- 
coat,  which  sounds  like  a  Tony  Weller  pro- 
nunciation.    See  Waistcoat. 

Vizard.     See  Mask. 

Wadmol.  Originally  weadmel,  a  coarse 
heavy  stuff  made  of  Iceland  wool,  and 
brought  from  Iceland  to  Suffolk  and  Nor- 
folk, England.  It  came  to  mean  a  very 
coarse,  felted  woollen  stuff.  We  read  of 
*'  wadmoll  mittens,"  of  '*  a  woadmell  petti- 

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coat."  The  name  does  not  appear  later 
than  the  year  1700.  And  I  have  never  seen 
it  in  inventories  of  the  Southern  colonies. 

Waistcoat.  A  term  used  in  early  days, 
as  now,  for  an  undergarment  reaching  from 
the  neck  to  the  waist,  and  usually  sleeve- 
less. In  1628  each  Bay  emigrant  had  two 
**wascotes  of  greene  cotton  bound  about 
with  Red  tape."  The  Piscataquay  planters 
had  red  waistcoats  supplied  to  them.  Wom- 
en and  men  both  wore  them  and  left  them 
by  will.  Edward  Skinner,  in  1641,  in  Bos- 
ton, and  Martha  Emmons,  in  1664,  had 
**  wastcotts."  Jane  Humphrey  had  them 
in  variety  of  kersey,  serge,  and  fustian — 
green,  white,  gray,  blue,  and  ''murry  col- 
lured."  It  took  *'  4  yardes  and  halfe  a  quar- 
ter of  tuft  Holland  ' '  to  make  Lawyer  Lech- 
ford's  wife  a  waistcoat,  which  is  much  more 
than  would  be  necessary  for  a  simply  shaped 
waistcoat  nowadays.  Widow  Oxen  bridge, 
of  Boston,  had  white  dimity  waistcoats.  In 
1 72 1  knit  **  westcots  "  were  advertised  in 
the  Boston  News  Letter ;  in  1767  '*  Damas- 
cus Lorettos  &  Burdets  for  fine  westcoats," 
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and  *'  fine  Rich  Pink  colour'd  Vellure  Silk 
for  waistcoats"  were  also  sold.  ''Knit 
Maccorini  waistcoats  ' '  and  waistcoat  pat- 
terns also  appear  in  the  list,  among  the  lat- 
ter *'  the  Sportmans  fancy,  the  Prince  of 
Wales  Newmarket  Jockey,  the  Modest  pale- 
blue."  In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  waistcoat  became  an  important 
article  of  attire,  being  very  long,  as  dis- 
played in  the  portraits  of  the  founder  of 
Yale  College,  of  Sir  William  Pepperell,  Sir 
William  Phips,  and  other  gentlemen  of  their 
day.  It  was  low  in  the  neck,  however, 
showing  the  cravat  all  around  the  neck ;  it 
was  richly  embroidered  or  trimmed  with 
great  gold  or  silver  buttons  and  laces.  Sir 
Charles  Frankland  said  in  1763  that  seven 
yards  of  gold  lace  were  needed  to  trim  a 
waistcoat. 

Watchet  Blue. 

"  The  saphir  stone  is  of  watchet  blue." 
In  the  early  colonial  days  this  word  oc- 
curs, though  rarely.     It  was  defined  in  old- 
time  words,  ''celustro,  azure,  watchet,  or 
skie-color. ' ' 

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Weather-skirt.     See  Safeguard. 

Whisk.  A  neckerchief  for  women's  wear, 
which  was  plain  or  laced,  and  fell  on  the 
shoulders ;  hence  also  called  a  falling-whisk. 
It  was  apparently  formed  at  first  simply  by 
turning  the  ruff  down.  We  find  Madam 
Pepys  buying  a  white  whisk  in  1660,  and 
later  a  *'  noble  lace  whisk." 

A  whisk  was  not  common  or  cheap  neck- 
wear. The  same  year  that  Madam  Pepys 
wore  her  whisk  to  court,  Governor  Berke- 
ley, of  Virginia,  paid  half  a  pound  apiece 
for  *' Tiffeny  Whisks."  I  think  they  were 
a  cavalier  elegance,  for  I  have  never  seen 
the  name  in  use  but  once  in  New  England. 
Wait  Winthrop,  in  1682,  sent  a  whisk  to  his 
niece  Mary. 

Whitney.  A  heavy  and  rather  coarse 
cloth  in  universal  use  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. To  show  its  value,  let  me  state  that 
Peter  Faneuil  ordered  from  London  in  1737 
*'  Fine  Whitneye  at  53s  a  yard,  Coarse 
Whitneye  at  28s  a  yard."  Its  color  was 
commonly  scarlet.  It  was  used  for  coats, 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

jackets,  petticoats,  breeches,  and  extensively 
for  cloaks.     It  was  also  spelled  Witney. 

Whittle.  This  was  a  double  blanket 
worn  by  West  country  women  over  the 
shoulders  like  a  cloak.  The  word  was  de- 
rived from  the  Anglo-Saxon  hwitel,  and  is 
found  in  Piers  Ploivman.  In  1655  Mary 
Harris,  of  New  London,  left  a  "  rred  whit- 
tle "  by  will,  and  Jane  Humphreys,  of  Dor- 
chester, had,  in  1668,  ^'a  whittle  that  was 
fringed."  A  whittle  was  apparently  much 
like  a  shawl.  The  name  became  obsolete 
in  the  eighteenth  century  in  America,  but 
was  frequently  used  in  England  till  a  much 
later  date — in  fact,  may  still  be  heard. 

Wild  BORE.  We  read  of  *'  Marone  Ribb'd 
Wildbores"  in  the  Saletn  Gazette  oi  1784, 
and  the  name  appears  frequently  elsewhere, 
until  this  century.  Wildbore  was  appar- 
ently a  heavy  repped  woollen  goods,  and  was 
much  used  for  women's  winter  gowns. 

Wig.  From  a  very  early  date  wigs  were 
in  fashion  in  the  colonies.     As  early  as  1675 

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the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  denounce  wig  -  wearing.  But  the 
question  of  the  propriety  of  donning  wigs 
was  a  difficult  one  to  settle,  since  the  min- 
isters and  magistrates  themselves  could  not 
agree.  John  Wilson  and  Cotton  Mather 
wore  them,  but  Rev.  Mr.  Noyes  launched 
denunciations  at  them  from  the  pulpit,  and 
the  Apostle  John  Eliot  delivered  many  a 
blast  against  **  prolix  locks  with  boiling 
zeal,"  but  yielded  sadly  to  the  fact  that  the 
**  lust  for  wigs  is  become  insuperable." 

Wigs  were  termed  by  one  author  '*  arti- 
ficial deformed  Maypowles  fit  to  furnish  her 
that  in  a  Stage  play  should  represent  some 
Hagge  of  Hell ;  "  by  another,  * '  Horrid 
Bushes  of  Vanity;  "  and  other  choice  epi- 
thets were  applied. 

Governor  Barefoot,  of  New  Hampshire, 
wore  a  periwig  as  early  as  1670  ;  only 
seven  years  after  Pepys  first  donned  one. 

In  1676  Wait  Winthrop  wrote  to  his 
brother  in  New  London  : 

I  send  herewith  the  best  wig  that  is  to  be  had  in 
ye  countrye.     Mr.   Sergeant  brought  it  from  Eng- 
land for  his  own  use  and  says  it  cost  him  two  guin- 
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eyes  and  six  shillings,  and  that  he  never  wore  it 
six  howers.  He  tells  me  will  have  three  pounds 
for  it. 

The  Winthrops  frequently  ordered  wigs, 
and  their  portraits  display  some  full-blown 
ones. 

By  1 716  the  fashion  of  wearing  wigs  had 
become  universal;  though  in  1722  at  a 
meeting  at  Hampton  a  remnant  of  sturdy 
Puritans  passed  a  resolution  that  "  ye  wear- 
ing of  extrevegant  superflues  wigges  is  alto- 
gether contrary  to  truth."  In  1730  the 
Assembly  of  New  York  placed  a  tax  of 
three  shillings  on  every  wig  or  peruke  of 
human  or  horsehair  mixed,  and  even  Penn- 
sylvania Quakers  cut  their  own  hair  and 
wore  wigs.  When  I  read  of  these  wig-wear- 
ing times,  and  of  the  grotesque  and  mounte- 
bank wigs  that  were  worn,  I  wonder  afresh 
at  the  manner  in  which  our  sensible  ances- 
tors disfigured  themselves. 

In  the  Boston  News  Letter  of  August  14, 
1729,  we  read  : 

Taken  from  the  shop  of  Powers  Mariott  Barber,  a 
light  Flaxen  Naturall  Wigg  Parted  from  the  forehead 
to  the  Crown.     The  Narrow  Ribband  is  of  a  Red 

259 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Pink  Colour.     The  Caul  is  in  Rows  of  Red  Green 
&  White. 

Grafton  Fevergrure,  the  peruke-maker  at  the 
sign  of  the  Black  Wigg,  lost  a  *'  Light 
Flaxen  Natural  Wigg  with  a  Peach  Blossom- 
coloured  Ribband."  In  1755  the  house  of 
barber  Goes  of  Marblehead  was  broken  into 
and  eight  brown  and  three  grizzle  wigs  stol- 
en ;  some  of  these  must  have  been  absurd 
enough,  with  <'  feathered  tops,"  some  were 
bordered  with  red  ribbon,  some  with  th^e 
colors,  pink,  green,  and  purple.  In  1754 
James  Mitchell  had  white  wigs  and  "griz- 
zles." He  asked  20s.  O.  T.  for  the  best. 
We  read  of  the  loss  of  "  a  horsehair  bob- 
wig,"  and  another  with  crown  hair,  and  a 
goat's  hair  natural  wig  with  red  and  white 
ribbons.  Wigs  were  also  made  of  **  calves 
tails,"  and  the  Virginia  6^f72^//^  advertised, 
in  1752,  "Mohair  stain' d "  for  wigg. 
Thread  and  silk  were  also  used. 
Hawthorne  gave  this  list  of  wigs  : 
The  tie,  the  brigadier,  the  spencer,  the 
albemarle,  the  major,  the  rami  Hies,  the  grave 
full-bottom,  and  the  giddy  feather-top. 
To  these  we  can  add  the  campaign,  the 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


neck-lock,  the  bob,  the  minor  bob,  the  bob 
major,  the  lavant,  the  valiancy,  the  drop- 
wig,  the  buckle-wig,  the  Grecian  fly,  the 
peruke,  the  beau-peruke,  the  long-tail,  the 
bob-tail,  the  fox-tail,  the  cut-wig,  the  tuck- 
wig,  the  twist  wig,  the  scratch,  the  maca- 
roni toupee.  Sydney  says  the  name  cam- 
paign was  applied  to  a  wig  the  fashion  of 
which  was  imported  from  France  in  1702. 
This  date  cannot  be  correct,  for  we  find 
John  Winthrop  writing  in  1695  for  "  two 
wiggs  one  a  cam  pane,  the  other  short. ' '  A 
campaign  wig  was  made  very  full,  and  curled 
eighteen  inches  to  the  front.  It  had  ''knots 
or  bobs  a-dildo  on  each  side  with  a  curled 
forehead."  The  portrait  of  John  Winthrop 
displays  an  enormous  wig,  perhaps  this  very 
"  cam  pane." 

The  Ramillies  wig  had  a  long  plaited  tail, 
with  a  big  bow  at  the  top  of  the  braid  and 
a  smaller  one  at  the  bottom. 

Wigs  were  of  varied  shapes.  They  swelled 
at  the  sides,  and  turned  under  in  great  rolls, 
and  rose  in  many  puffs,  and  hung  in  braids 
or  curls  or  clubbed  tails,  and  then  shrank  to 
a  small  close  tie-wig  that  vanished  at  Revo- 
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Costume  of  Colonial  Times 

lutionary  times  in  powdered  natural  hair 
and  a  queue  of  ribbon,  a  bag,  or  an  eel- 
skin. 

From  the  portraits  of  the  day — those  of 
Copley,  Smibert,  Blackburn,  and  Gilbert 
Stuart,  and  also  of  earlier  artists — displayed 
in  Harvard  Memorial  Hall,  in  the  Library 
of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  in  the 
rooms  of  the  various  historical  societies,  a 
very  correct  sequence  of  wig  fashions  can 
be  obtained,  and  dates  assigned  to  certain 
shapes.  The  portraits  of  Virginians  show 
some  specially  handsome  wigs. 

All  classes  wore  wigs.  Many  a  runaway 
slave  is  described  as  wearing  off  a  *' white 
horsehair  wigg,"  a  *'  flaxen  natural  wigg," 
or  a  "  full  goatshair  wigg."  A  soldier  de- 
serter in  1707  wore  off  a  <' yellowish  peri- 
wig,." and  as  a  specially  absurd  instance  of 
servile  imitation,  I  read  in  the  Massachu- 
setts Gazette  of  July  11,  1774,  of  a  negro 
who  "  wore  off  a  curl  of  hair  tied  on  a 
string  around  his  head  to  imitate  a  scratch 
wig."  Just  picture  that  woolly  pate  with  its 
dangling  curl  ! 

The  account  books  of  Enoch  Freeman,  of 
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Portland,  Me.,  contain  in  1754  such  entries 
as  this : 

Shaving  my  three  sons  at  sundry  times  jCs-  14s. 
Expense  for  James  Wig  £g. 

Expense  for  Samuels  Wig.  ;^9. 

The  three  sons  were  Samuel,  aged  eleven, 
James,  aged  nine,  and  William,  aged  seven. 
Imagine  any  father  in  a  small  town  being 
such  a  slave  of  fashion  as  to  have  the  heads 
of  little  sons  shaved  and  bedecking  them 
with  such  costly  wigs. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  century  women, 
having  powdered  and  greased  and  pulled 
their  hair  almost  off  their  heads,  were  glad 
to  wear  wigs.  At  first  '^tetes"  of  curled 
hair  were  donned,  as  early  as  1752;  then 
came  *  Mocks."  We  find  Eliza  Southgate 
Bowne  when  a  young  girl  writing  thus  to 
her  mother  from  Boston  in  the  year  1800. 

Now  Mamma  what  do  you  think  I  am  going  to 
ask  for  ? — A  WIG.  Eleanor  Coffin  has  got  a  new 
one  just  like  my  hair  and  only  5  dollars.  I  must 
either  cut  my  hair  or  have  one.  I  cannot  dress  it  at 
all  stylish.  ...  At  the  Assembly  I  was  quite 
ashamed  of  my  head,  for  nobody  had  long  hair.  ' 
26?, 


Costume  of  Colonial  Times 


Wigs  were  bequeathed  by  will.  Robert 
Richbell,  of  Boston,  left  eight  by  bequest ; 
so  also  did  rich  Philadelphians.  The  cost 
of  dressing  and  caring  for  wigs  became  a 
heavy  item  of  expense  to  the  wearer,  and  in- 
come to  the  barber ;  often  eight  or  ten 
pounds  a  year  were  paid  for  the  care  of  a 
single  wig.  Governor  Hutchinson  had  a 
formidable  annual  barber's  bill.  Wig- mak- 
er's materials  were  expensive  also — ''wig 
ribans,  cauls,  curling  pipes,  sprigg  wyers, 
and  wigg  steels,"  and  were  advertised  in 
vast  numbers. 


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